Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

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  • Life history interviews with individuals who witnessed and survived tsunamis-particularly the 1946 and 1960 disasters on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Thirty individuals-mostly residents of Hilo and Laupahoehoe-recall their experiences before; during, and after the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis which were arguably the most destructive natural disasters in modem Hawaiian history. 

Interviewee Sort descending Collection Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Albert L. Stanley Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Albert Louis Stanley was born August 31, 1930 in Hilo, Hawai'i. His father, Clyde LeGrand Stanley, was originally from Missouri. He journeyed to Hawai'i as a young man in 1916 in search of excitement Settling flrst in Hilo working for Hawaiian Dredging Company, Clyde Stanley married Rosina Bassler, a public health nurse in Hilo. The couple eventually moved to Laupahoehoe, where he worked as a maintenance superintendent for Hawaiian Consolidated Railway, Ltd.

Warren Nishimoto Honolulu, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Alexander M. Riviera Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

The seventh of thirteen children, Alexander M. Riviera was born in Hakalau, Hawai'i on August 9, 1931. His father was John Fernando Rivera, who immigrated from Puerto Rico in 1901, and Mary Dejesus Rivera, who was of Spanish descent and born in Hawai'i. [Note: Alexander changed the spelling of his last name.] Like many laborers, Riviera's father took on contracts at various sugar plantations on the Big Island. Riviera and his siblings spent their childhoods living in sugar plantation camps at Hakalau, Kukuihaele, Papa'aloa, and Papa'ikou.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Bunji Fujimoto Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Bunji Fujimoto, the sixth of ten children, was born March 22, 1930 in N"mole, Hawai'i. His parents, Saiji Fujimoto and Ei Sorakubo Fujimoto, were immigrants from Hiroshima, Japan. Saiji Fujimoto was a laborer and independent sugarcane grower for Wailea Milling Company which later (1944) merged with Hakalau Plantation Company. As a youth, Fujimoto helped his father in the sugarcane fields. His chores at home included cutting grass for livestock, feeding livestock and poultry, and tending the family garden.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Catherine Diama Campainha Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Catherine Diama Campainha was born to Visayan immigrants, Catalina Buscas Diama and Agapito Diama, in Hilo, Hawai'i on March 28, 1938. She has five brothers and four sisters. Her father owned and operated Mamo Pool Hall, a billiard parlor located below their living quarters, and rented out rooms to bachelors in a boardinghouse. Her mother leased and ran the Ideal Meat Market until the mid-1940s. The Diama home on Mamo Street was a gathering place.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Eloise Ahuna Pung Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

The middle of three children born to Randolph Ahuna, Sr. and Adeline .Kame'ekua Ahuna, Eloise Ahuna Pung was born in Kukuiopa'e, South Kona, Hawai'i on December 16, 1933. Her paternal grandfather, Loo Ahuna, had a farm where he grew coffee and raised poultry and livestock.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Evelyn Lyn Kagawa Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Evelyn Lyn Miyazaki Kagawa, nisei, was born June 22, 1922 in Tacoma, Washington. Her parents, Carl Shintaro Miyazaki and Matsuko Matsukawa Miyazaki immigrated to America from Kumamoto and Ehime prefectures, respectively. Kagawa, the second of four children, was raised and educated in Tacoma, graduating from Stadium High School. She was attending the College of Puget Sound when World War II broke out. Carl Miyazaki, a leader in the local Japanese community, was picked up by the FBI and interned as an enemy alien at Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Nancy Piianaia Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Fusae Takaki Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Fusae Tanaka Takaki was born May 28, 1923 in Hilo. She was the youngest of four children born to Eijiro Tanaka and Kura Hano Tanaka, both immigrants from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Eijiro Tanaka worked as a stone crusher, stevedore, and merchant marine. Her mother sold lunches and snacks from her car near Coconut Island and the Hilo wharf area. Takaki was raised in the Shinmachi district of Hilo, home to a large portion of Hilo's Japanese population.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Harold P. Luscomb Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Harold P. Luscomb was born April 27, 1926 in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His Hilo-bom father, Harold P. Luscomb, Sr., had moved to Pennsylvania to work for Westinghouse Electric Company and to work toward a degree in electrical engineering. There he met his wife, Helen Jones Luscomb. Harold Jr., the couple's only child, was raised at the home of his maternal grandparents in Pittsburgh. At the age of ten, Harold, his father, and mother moved to Hilo, where his father was employed by Hilo Electric Light Company.

Warren Nishimoto Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Hayato Okino Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Hayato Okino was born August 18, 1912, in the Waiakea Town section of Hilo. He was the fourth of five children of Shimakichi Okino and Tsune Hamasaki Okino, who both immigrated to Hawai'i from Japan in 1901. Okino attended Wa.iakea Kai, Hilo Junior High, and Hilo High schools, graduating in 1932. His first job after graduation was an auto parts salesman for Ruddle Sales and Service in Hilo. Twenty-three years later, in 1955, he started his own auto parts business, Automotive Supply Center. The building was complete destroyed in the 1960 tsunami.

Warren Nishimoto , Hilo, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Herbert S. Nishimoto Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i

Herbert Sadamu Nishimoto was born June 15, 1929 in N"mole, Hawai'i. He is the youngest of Senichi Nishimoto and Misano Masukawa Nishimoto's five children.

Warren Nishimoto Aiea, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History