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    • Arsenic Remediation
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  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Infrastructure and Transportation >
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Obon Festival
      • Memorial Day
      • Celebrations at Hakalau Jodo Mission
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
      • Mochi Pounding
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee

Schools

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Alumni of the Hakalau Jodo Mission Japanese Language School, 1934. Photo courtesy of the Hakalau Jodo Mission

English Language Schools under the Department of Education

Hakalau School

The country school which grew from a small one-room house to an educational plant of considerable size was an important entity in the plantation community. Hakalau School, in addition to its function of teaching the three R's, also became the district's center for many social and athletic activities until it was closed and consolidated with Kalanianaole School in Papaikou in 1972.
More
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Hakalau School Teachers, May 1929: Mrs. Machado, Miss Douse, Miss Okazaki, A.K.Akita, Mrs. Capellas, Mr. Capellas, Mrs. Maneki, Mrs.F. Cyliskus, Chun Koon, MacNicoll, Miss Ignacio, Parker, Takeyama, Morimoto. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.

John M. Ross School

The Ninole School was originally called Pohakupuka School and the first principal was a Mrs. Bridgewater prior to 1904. In 1932 Ninole School closed after a long and colorful history and the buildings were moved to a new 7.58 acre parcel next to Nanue stream​​ and the new Ninole School, now called John M. Ross School, was open to students.  The school consisted of one large structure which had 6 classrooms, a principal’s office, a dispensary and a library.  There were 2 additional buildings, one for the principal and his family and the other for teachers that needed housing.
More
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Photo courtesy of John M. Ross.

Japanese Language Schools

A good overview and history of Japanese language schools is provided in the Densho Encyclopedia. 
​​The role of the Japanese language schools in Hawaii changed over time and is described in Kodomo no tame ni: For the sake of the children: ​
One of the first language schools had been founded in 1896...Soon the idea of teaching the Japanese language to Nisei became extremely popular, especially since the schools facilitated communication and cultural transmission within the Issei family and provided a child-care center for working parents.  With the proliferation of Buddhist institutions, the Japanese language schools came under the control of a more "Japanesey" leadership. Besides instruction in the language, reverence for the emperor and a strong attachment to things Japanese dominated the curriculum of the Buddhist-operated language schools. Many young Nisei would therefore attend not only public school, learning American culture and language, but would study the ways of Japan at the language schools. (Source: Dennis M. Ogawa, Kodomo no tame ni: For the sake of the children, The University of Hawaii Press, 1978,  p. 141)

Hakalau

Extensive information is available about the Hakalau Japanese Language School and is integrated into the history of the the Hakalau Jodo Mission. 
1920
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1920 Alumni of the Hakalau Jodo Mission's Japanese Language School. Photo on display at the Hakalau Jodo Mission.
1927
The new Japanese Language School was dedicated.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, October 15, 1927, accessed via Newspapers.com
1929
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1929 picture of the Hakalau Jodo Mission and Japanese Language School and students from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Left to right: 1st Row: ?, ?, Taeko Tadokoro, Sadame Yoshimura, Masako Hirata, Masako Fujimoto, Rev. Itakura, Mrs. (Rev) Itakura,
Akiko Morikawa, ? Yokoyama, Haruyo Hashimoto, Shigeko Shiraishi, Tomeyo Yoshida, Kaoru Tawara;
2nd Row: ? Fukunaga, Yasuhiro Uyechi, Waichi Ouye, Hiyokichi Fujioka, Katsutaro Yoshida, Hideo Ochiai, Yukio Hamada, Henry Urasaki, Kazuo Yamamoto, Toraichi Morikawa, Satoshi Fujinaga, Takuma Mizuguchi, Hajime Nishioka, Yoshikazu Kishimori, Shuichi Furuyama,
Tsutamo Tawara, Hoichi Uyeda, Toshio Hamada, ?Yoshimura, Masao Mizuguchi;
3rd Row: Susumu Kimura, Kazumi Ueda, Takeo Okazaki, Hiroshi Ikawa, Tadashi Nishioka, Makoto Tawara, Harold Noboru Fujimoto, Shigeharu Furusho, Masao Mihara, Masami Uyeda, Sadakichi Yoshida, Kaoru Mizuguchi, Terumi Koga, Yutaka Hirata, Naotaka Hiroshige,
Shigeo Nishiyama, Masao Oshiro.
~1934
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This photo hangs in the temple at the current Hakalau Jodo Mission, probably around 1934 just before the old Japanese Language School and Temple were demolished. Rev. Yamanaka sits in the front row directly in line with the center of the steps. The building on the left, constructed in 1927, was the plantation personnel office (later the ILWU office) and also served the Japanese language school and aikido studio. Source: copy of photo currently hanging in the Hakalau Jodo Mission.

Wailea 

Another Japanese Language School was on the Wailea side, near the Hakalau School, as shown is the aerial photo of Hakalau School  as well as the hand-drawn map produced by one of the participants in the Hakalau School and Reunion. At this point, November 2019, very little history about this school has been compiled for this website. We are interested in historical detail and pictures. If you have information about this Japanese Language School, please contact us! ​
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Former Japanese School, Built 1930, House #327
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Honohina

There was also a Japanese Language School next to the Honohina Hongwanji. As of November 2019, very little information about this school has been compiled for this website. We are interested in historical detail and pictures. If you have information about this Japanese Language School, please contact us! 
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The building on the left is building # 51, the Japanese School, and the Honohina Hongwanji, on the right, is building #52 in the map. The newly planted tree is a Shower Tree, similar to the one at Waikaumalo Park today. Photo courtesy of Robert Nishimoto.
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Ninole Japanese School, known as Ninole Dokuritsu Gakko

Nearby was the Ninole Japanese School, properly known as Ninole Dokuritsu Gakko, which consisted of a residence and a 3-classroom building.  ​In 1932, the Japanese school split into two and moved next to the John M. Ross School site.  The Ninole Dokuritsu Gakko site was located on the Hilo side of Waiehu stream. The new Honohina Hongwanji Gakuen was built on the Hamakua side of Waiehu stream. As of November 2019, very little information about this school has been compiled for this website. We are interested in historical detail and pictures. If you have information about this Japanese Language School, please contact us! 
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Mr. and Mrs. M. Shigaki, date unknown. Mr. Shigaki was the Principal of the Japanese Language School in Ninole. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
For the Hakalau Kuleana, our responsibility is to care for the land, the people, and the culture. We are guided by cultural values of YESTERDAY: Engage in collective effort. Look out for each other. Honor hard work. Show respect for those who came before us. Aloha and Mālama `Aina. In 2021, Akiko Masuda added two more values to the list: Consistently show up. Whatever has to be done, jump in and do it!