Posted on: Sunday, July 25, 2004

OUR HONOLULU

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Sharon Narimatsu believes firmly that a first-generation immigrant lives the culture; the second generation denies the culture; the third generation loses the culture; and the fourth generation is curious about the culture.

As the first female president of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Narimatsu should know. She's not only the first female president but the first hapa one. "I'm Japanese, Irish and Italian," she said.

Narimatsu says she is living proof that the chamber is adjusting to the times. It was only 40 years ago that the board of directors stopped doing business in the Japanese language.

The board of the chamber is so large that no board room in town is big enough to accommodate its 80 members. It's because every past chairman automatically becomes a lifetime member.

"We believe past experience and institutional memory is valuable," she explained. "We respect the knowledge that past presidents bring to the board."

With 80 members, how do you get anything done?

"A quorum is one-third of the members. Listen, we've lasted for 104 years. If it's not broken, don't fix it."

I asked how she gets along with men of Japanese descent on the board. "I've been pleasantly surprised by my acceptance into the organization," she said. "I wasn't sure that, after 104 years of male presidents, how I would be treated. Nobody has told me, 'You can't do that.' "

To my surprise, I learned that anybody can join the Japanese Chamber, and that businessmen and businesswomen of other ethnic groups are doing so to get into the Japanese market.

Narimatsu, who has held high positions in the University of Hawai'i and the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the Japanese Chamber was first known as the Honolulu Japanese Merchants Association. Members organized after being burned out by the great Chinatown fire of 1900.

While most people assume that Chinese suffered the brunt of the disaster, half of those displaced were Japanese. The first meeting was probably held in a store that survived. Thirty-seven merchants met to figure out how to help the destitute families and restart their businesses.

In 1912, they changed the name to the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce and opened an office on the second floor of the Yokohama Specie Bank. It is one of four major Japanese organizations in Hawai'i. Two organizations grew out of the Japanese Chamber: the Junior Japanese Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the Cherry Blossom Festival; and the Japanese Cultural Center, where the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce now has its office.

Mieko Otsuka was the first woman to be elected chair of the board, in 1995.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.