James T. Ohashi
Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i
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.
James Tatsumi Ohashi was born March 2, 1928 in a sugar plantation camp in Kipii-Hule'ia, Kaua'i. The seventh of eight children of Bunjiro Ohashi and Ima K.anemori Ohashi, he attended Hule'ia Grammar School and graduated from Kaua'i High School. After receiving his degree from the University of Hawai'i, Ohashi enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He rose to the rank of colonel. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and also served in Japan before retiring in 1973. Ohashi is an avid and prolific writer and a student of local history. He has spent many years researching and writing about his family in Kaua'i. In the following essay, he writes about the destructive tsunami of April 1, 1946 on the Garden Island. At the time, he was living with his mother and younger sister in a Nawiliwili Bay-front cottage on the estate of Charles Atwood Rice. "Mama Hashi," as his mother was known, worked as a maid, cook, housekeeper and baby-sitter. Ohashi acknowledges and reflects upon Kaua'i tsunami victims from Anahola, Kalihi Wai, Hanalei, and Ha'ena. His essay is reprinted in its original form with minor editing for clarity.
Scope and Content Note
A student of local history, Ohashi wrote this essay on the April 1, 1946 tsunami he experienced on Kauai. At the time, he was living with his mother a younger sister in a Nawiliwili Bay-front cottage on the Charles Atwood Rice estate.
Program Note:
This interview is part of the Center for Oral History's project Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai‘i. Interviews from this project are available in the Center's ScholarSpace open access repository.
The Center for Oral History (COH), in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collects, documents, preserves and highlights the recollections of Native Hawaiians and the multi-ethnic people of Hawaiʻi. It produces oral histories and interpretive historical materials about lifeways, key historic events, social movements and Hawaiʻi’s role in the globalizing world, for the widest possible use.
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