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  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • People >
      • The Ross Families of Hakalau
      • Satoru Kurisu
      • Toraichi Morikawa
      • Waichi Ouye
      • Aigoro Uyeno
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
      • Hakalau Japanese Language School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries >
        • Honohina Cemetery
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Transportation >
      • Ships
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges >
        • Highway Bridges, 1950-1953
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Community Commitments >
        • Obon Festival
        • Memorial Day
        • Presentations >
          • American Gatha
          • Building World Peace, Local Style
          • Stronger Than a Tsunami
          • The End of Sugar
          • Ready, Set, Obon!
        • Newsletters
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Wailea/Hakalau Kumiai
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
  • Then and Now
    • UP & DOWN CAMPS: THEN AND NOW
    • Memorial Day: Then and Now
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee
森川虎一
TORAICHI MORIKAWA
Hakalau
Family Origin: Otake Town, Saeki County, Kagoshima Prefecture
Birth: May 28, 1906 
​Death: January 30, 1962
​Born in Hawaii
Picture
Prior to April 10, 1925. From left to right: sisters Yoshiko Idemoto and Akiyo Kunishi, mother Suna, Toraichi (standing), and father Kakuichiro. Photo courtesy of Leanne Kirk, first cousin, twice removed.
Picture
Circa 1934, included in The Light on the Ocean. Left to right: wife Sayoko holding holding infant Stanley; Toraichi; son Ronald; mother Suna.
Picture
Hawaii Manichi, December 5, 1936
Picture
Circa 1946-1950. L to R: Oldest son, Ronald; youngest son, Colin; Toraichi; his wife, Sayoko; second oldest son, Stanley; third oldest son, Wilfred. Photo courtesy of Leanne Kirk, first cousin, twice removed.
From The Light on the Ocean:
His father Kakuichi moved to Hawaii in 1900 and worked very hard. However, he passed away due to an illness in April, 1925. Toraichi graduated from the local public school in 1920, and then graduated from Hilo High School with brilliant records in 1924. Upon graduation he was hired as a Japanese Chief of purchasing department at the Sugar Cane Company. He was trusted by many as the head of the local boy scout and was respected as a model Japanese American citizen. Taking on his father’s legacy of dedication to the church and its school he is a rare devotee for a young man. 
​
In the past few years he has been busy as the head of the school reunion association, an executive at the church, and additionally from May of this year the vice principal. His ingenuity is fully extended in many fields of the community. re to edit.
When the current mission was constructed in 1936, Toraichi Morikawa served as the Vice Chairman of the building Committee, noted both on the ganshu and the munafuda.
Picture
Ganshu, pledged April 4, 1936.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, his leadership in the community was mentioned often in the newspaper, including: 
  • Boy Scouts: He was active in scouting for 38 years including 34 consecutive years as Scout Master for Hakalau’s Troop. Early in his scouting career, in 1939, he was awarded the highest award that the Kileauea Council could bestow on a scout leader, the Silver Beaver Award, for outstanding service to boyhood.
Picture
Merit Scouts, Officers and Troop Chaiman, in the front yard of the Hakalau Plantation Manager's home, 1930. Standing L to R: Eagle Scout Harry Urasaki, Life Scout Shigeru Ito, Star Scout Theodore Machado, Star Scout Masawo Tanaka, Eagle Scout Waichi Ouye, Star Scout Daniel Gonsalves, and Asst. Scout Master Nishioka. Sitting: Scout Master Morikawa, Troop Chairman J.M. Ross, and Asst. Scout Master Furusho. Photographer Shigeharu Furusho. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Picture
Boy Scouts in the Hakalau Jodo Mission Social Hall, circa late 1940's. Scout Master Toraichi Morikawa at far left.
  • Hakalau Jodo Mission and Hakalau Meisho YBA, including Board President, Vice Chairman of the Construction Committee for the Mission (1936), Fundraiser
  • Other leadership roles for the Hakalau School PTA, Honomu Hongwanji, the Hilo High Renunion Committee, Hakalau Civic Club, and Hakalau Plantation liaison with the community
Picture
Toraichi Morikawa, standing on the left near the front of the table, helps celebrate employees with 40 years of service to the Hakalau Plantation on January 20, 1935. Plantation Manager John M. Ross and his wife, Georgiana, are seated at the head of the table. This gathering is in the Boy Scout den in the lower level of the gym. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
We are grateful for his leadership and dedication to the Hakalau Jodo Mission and the community.
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!