Tag Archives: family
Hawaiian Eye – Pt. 4 (Family tour)
We had heavenly shave ice at the Waiola corner grocery, which was just a block from where my grandfather had his home and business. The spot now has a high-rise apartment or condo on it, and the location of the Honolulu Stadium next door is now a park. Monday, Sept. 17 This day was one […]
Hawaiian Eye – Pt. 3 (The Reunion)
Joy and Hiroshi kicked off the reunion with a taiko performance. Joy is the cousin who came up to me at a book signing in San Jose, and dropped the bombshell that I have an entire branch of relatives that I never knew about. Sunday, Sept. 16 The Hanzawa-Sakuma family reunion was a Sunday brunch, […]
Hawaiian Eye – Pt. 2 (The Pre-Party)
Sunday, September 16, 2007 Yesterday was a long day, and a preview of today’s reunion. We started with the relaxed morning of papaya and conversation with Laura, but eventually moved on to the day’s work: shopping at Costco and then the Star Market for the ingredients to make our “kakimochi” chips for the party. The […]
Hawaiian Eye – Pt. 1
It’s great to feel so welcomed. Erin and I arrived late yesterday afternoon at Honolulu Airport and called up Regine Shimomura, a cousin I’d never met. She’s the twin sister of Laura McHugh, who was stuck at a hair appointment. We’re staying at Laura’s home, so one we got the rental car, we called Regina […]
Family ties
For most people — but I think especially for Japanese Americans, who tend to come from very defined communities bound together by geographic roots, generational branchings and, for many, the shared trauma of internment — meeting a stranger and finding out you’re somehow related isn’t such a big deal. It might be novel, or surprising, […]
