Hisashi Kimura, store owner, judo instructor, dead at 87
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Hisashi Kimura, who owned H. Kimura Store Inc. in Kainaliu and mentored many Kona youngsters as their judo instructor, died Oct. 17 at his home. He was 87.
Kimura was the retired president and chairman of H. Kimura, a general merchandise store that was passed on to him by his father.
Kimura was born Feb. 1, 1916, in Holualoa, graduated from Hilo High School and traveled to Japan in the 1930s to continue his education at Doshisha University in Kyoto. He studied and trained in judo there for two years, but returned to Hawai'i after his mother died in 1938.
Kimura's late wife, Irene Chieko Kimura, was a seamstress, and after the couple took over the Kimura store they converted it from a country general merchandise business into a fabric shop that is run today by two of their children.
Using their income from the store, sewing work and a small family coffee-farming operation, Kimura and his wife raised five children and sent them all to college on the Mainland.
Kimura was a 5th dan black belt, past head instructor and past president of the Kona Judo Club. The club dominated judo competitions on the Big Island in the 1950s, said Kimura's son, Glenn, who lives in Hilo.
Hisashi Kimura was active in civic affairs and was a charter member and past president of the Kainaliu Business and Professional Associations; past president of the Rotary Club of Kona Mauka and a former director of the Kona Chamber of Commerce. He served as president of the Daifukuji Soto Mission, the Hawai'i Soto Mission Association and the Kona Japanese Civic Association.
Since Kimura was fluent in Japanese, the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu often asked him to help welcome visiting dignitaries and sailors from Japanese training ships, his family said. He was honored with the 5th class of the Order of the Sacred Treasures from the emperor of Japan for his work in promoting Japanese American relations and culture.
"He was a quiet man, but as we remember him he always was there for us," said his daughter, Winifred of Kainaliu.
Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Daifukuji Soto Mission in Honalo, with a service at 11 a.m. The family requests aloha attire.
He is also survived by sons, Isaac of Yamhill, Ore., Calvin of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Brian of Captain Cook; a brother, Kongo of Honolulu; a sister, Tona Ikeda of Pearl City; 12 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
