Hawaii County HIGenWeb

Grandfather Manki was the eldest son of Manjiro (April 12, 1861-March 22,1923) and Kiyo (Yamamoto) Harunaga (September 13, 1862-April 3, 1922)at 9 Uchida, Oaza Kagami Machi, Yatsushiro County, KumamotoPrefecture, Japan.

Manjiro and Kiyo had two other children. A daughter, Hisa (November 18-unknown) and a son, Shizuki (June 5, 1885-June 24, 1958). Hisa married Seizo Matsuda in April 1901 and was moved off the Harunaga Koseki Tohon. Shizuki married Suki Yukitoh on November 30, 1909 and had three daughters, Fujie (February 6, 1910-November 7, 1931), Fujino (February 6,1910-moved to husband’s family tree), Ritsuko (June 18, 1921-December15, 1944) and three sons, Toshinari (March 3, 1912-June 16, 1942),Shigetoshi (February 20, 1914-moved to new Harunaga family tree, November 12, 1958), Mitsuo (December 15, 1915-moved to new Harunaga family tree, November 12, 1958). When Grandfather Manki finally returned to Japan in 1953, I believe that he lived with Mitsuo.

Grandfather Manki immigrated to Hawaii on August 13, 1901 on the SS Gaelic.

I have not been able to find any information for the years from 1901 untilthe 1910 census. I believe that during these years he developed a lifelong relationship with my great grandparents, Itoyo and Toshitaro Okada.

Grandfather Manki married Shizuko Hada (December 1, 1897-February 17,1928), daughter of Itoyo (Bessho) (Hada) Okada (about 1875-1966) fromher first marriage to Kinji (or Kyuji or Hisaji) Hada. Grandfather Manki andShizuko had three sons, Yoshiaki (December 13, 1913-June 8, 1995),Toshio (January 3, 1925-November 4, 2011) and Shizuo (February 17,1928-August 9, 2011). Shizuko died giving birth to their son Shizuo.Shizuko’s half sister Yoshiko (Okada) (December 15, 1901-February 1987)and her husband, Takashi Nishimoto (May 22, 1900-July 25, 1983) adopted and raised Shizuo.

Photo donated by the NHERC Heritage Center, Honokaa from their Okada Collection.

In the 1910 census, Grandfather Manki was manager for the Livery Stable in Honokaa. According to the Honolulu City Directory, he continued to work at the Livery Stable until 1926.

On December 17, 1920, Grandfather Manki leased land from A. O.Henderson of Honokaa to build the Honokaa Theater. Until July 30, 1934,Grandfather Manki and his business partner M. Fujino owned and operated the Honokaa Theater, remembered by people in Honokaa as the Japanese Theater. On July 30, 1934, Grandfather Manki and his partner sold the Honokaa Theater to H. Tanimoto. Photo of the theater at Appendix A (below) is from the collection of my cousin, Dr. Lester Harunaga, DDS, in Honolulu. My cousin says that Grandfather Manki used to show him the picture and tell him it was his theater.

Honokaa Theater, also known as the Japanese Theater in Honokaa.

Photo is from the collection of Dr. Lester Harunaga, DDS, in Honolulu.

The first photo is the only photo I have for Grandmother Shizuko (donated

by the NHERC Heritage Center, Honokaa from their Okada Collection). Fortuitously, it includes Grandfather Manki, Grandmother Shizuko’s half sister Yoshiko Okada and her husband Takashi Nishimoto. They were attending someone’s wedding in Honokaa. NHERC Heritage Center, Honokaa believes the photo was taken in the early 1920’s.

On February 14, 1922, Grandfather Manki journeyed to his home village to visit his parents and returned on August 22, 1922. His mother, Kiyo died on April 3, 1922 and his father, Manjiro died on March 22, 1923.

Grandfather Manki’s annual path through life in Honokaa tracked through the Honolulu City Directory. 1912-1926 worked at the Livery Stable/Auto Livery; Taxi service. 1926-1934 owned and operated the Honokaa Theater, also remembered in Honokaa as the Japanese Theater. According to the NHERC Heritage Center talk story, Grandfather Manki traveled around the island of Hawaii with Japanese silent movies and was a “benshi” (Japanese silent movie narrator). 1935-1939 no occupation listed. 1940 partial of the directory found online that did not include information on Grandfather Manki. World War II No Honolulu City Directories published. 1947-1949 worked at Matsu’s Auto Repair in Honolulu. 1950 no Honolulu City Directory published. 1951-1953 no occupation listed.

Grandfather Manki’s eldest son, Yoshiaki became a dentist and lived in Honolulu. His second son, Toshio (my dad) became a lawyer and lived in San Jose, CA.

Grandfather Manki never remarried after Shizuko died in 1928. After World War II, Grandfather Manki moved from Honokaa to live with his eldest son in Honolulu. In 1953, Yoshiaki was drafted into the Army and Grandfather Manki decided to move back to his birth place in Kumamoto, Japan. He lived there until his death in 1973.