An Interview with Byron Yoshina

By: Lucian Anderson, UHMMOPAlumnus

OnApril 1,1946,Hilowasstruck by a tsunami.Thetsunami wastriggeredby a magnitude8.6 earthquakeintheAleutian IslandsinAlaska.Wavesashighas50 ft struck theunsuspectingresidents.At least 159 peoplewerekilled,makingit the deadliest tsunami inHawai?i?shistory.

ByronYoshinaisamember of my parents?writingcourseinOlympia, Washington.Mr.Yoshinaisoriginally from Hilo,Hawai?i andwasinHiloat thetimeof the1946 tsunami.Hesaidhewastenyears oldwhenthetsunami hit.My parents arrangedfor metomeet withhimandchat. Withhispermission,I recorded someof the uniquestorieshesharedwithmeabout the tsunami andsomelocal knowledgeof Hilo fromthe1940s-50s.Below isthe wonderful talk wehad.Unlessspecified,all issaidby Mr.Yoshina.

Me:What doyouremember about the 1946 tsunami?

April 1st in1946 my Unclecalledup my dadandhesays,?Hey Georgethere'sa tidal wave.Andit wipedout thetown.?

Andmydadsaid,?OhohKennethyou cannot fool me.I know it'sApril fool'sday.? But hesent meout tothefront of thehouse toseeif it wasreally true.I lookeddown towardtheoceanwhichisabout six blocks away frommy house.Downthehill,there wasastorecalledKababayan,aFilipino dry goodsstore,at thefoot of thehill with abigsignthat saysKababayan.I looked out thereandI saw it standingtheresoI ranback andtoldmy dadhow Kababayan isstill thereandhecalledmy Uncleupand said,?Hey Kenneth,yougot mebut I know it'sApril fools.?

Kennethsaid,?NoGeorge,it'sreally true,?somy dadsent meout again.I went out andtheKababayanStorewasgone. Therewasnostoreleft.SoI hadtogoback andtell my dadthat it istrue.I remember that about April 1st.

What I know about thetsunami is that inLaup?hoehoe,whichisabout 30 milesnorthof Hilo,theHamakuacoast,it's onthewindwardsideof theislandsoit's cut away quiteabit by theprevailing windsfromthenortheast andit'sup towardsLaup?hoehoe.It'sasea cliff. Laup?hoehoe,it literally meansaleaf of aP?hoehoelava.Anyway,there'salava flow that went over thecliffsintotheocean andcreatedthispeninsulaof lava.Sothere wasacommunity downonthat point there. Laup?hoehoeElementary School wasat that point.At that timethey usedtohave housingfor teachers.Now,there'ssome storiesabout how kidswereat theschool early inthemorning.They weredropped off early becausetheparentshadtogoto work.Whenthetsunami started,youknow thefirst indicationisthewater getsdrawn out intothesea.Sothekidssaw thesea recedingandsaw all thefishflopping around.Sothey ranout togather thefish andthey weretherewhentheseacame rushingback inandalot of kidsweretaken, werecaught upinthewaveandtakenout.

My cousinwasdownat theschool,he wasdroppedoff and whenhesaw the water recedinghestartedtogoout but thenhesaw thewater comingback in.So hestartedtoruntowardsthemountain andthentherewasthisguy ona motorcycle.Hedoesn't know whoit was but thisguy cameup,pickedhimupand took himuptotheBuddhist churchon higher ground,put himdownthereand went back topick upmorekids.But he never saw that guy againandhesaidthat henever knew whothat personwasbut that guy savedhislife.

Ohgosh,I don't know,well I know it's astory that my cousintoldme,youknow? And hesaidhedidn't know whothat guy wasand just pickedhimuptoasafeground and went back toget morekids.

Me:I wastoldthere?saromanticstory somewhereinthereabout aschool teacher.

Therewasaschool teacher whowas swept out tosea.Shewasout intheocean and shefoundthisdoor whichhadbeen tornoff thehingesandsoshegrabbedonto thisdoor and I think shepickedup somebody else.Sothereweretwoof them onthat door andthey weredriftingout to seaandthenherecomesaboat lookingfor survivors.There'saguy onit whopicked her upandthat guy happenedtobethe plantationdoctor.I think hisnameis Fernandez,I'mnot sure.Anyway,there'sa romanticendtothestory inthat theguy rescued her and thenfell inloveandthey got married.Unfortunately,I think their marriageendedinadivorce.It'sthat story, I feel,asbigthingscomeout of every romanticstory,that everyonetalkedabout.

Me:Doyouknow how many kidshesaved?

I don't know how many kidswere killed.They hadtohaveteacher housing becausethey hadtorecruit teachersfrom outsidethearea,and tokeepteachers there.Soyeah,just cottagesandthere werequiteafew peoplethat wedon't know whoweretakenout tosea,never recovered.[Editorial note:A teacher and

Peoplerun from an approaching tsunami in Hilo, Hawai'i, on 1 April 1946. Photograph

Tidal Wave Damage.

Hilo,

25 studentslost their livesat Laup?hoehoeonApril 1st,1946.] sideof thestreet.Sohewassparedbut his oldoffice,thebuildingswereswept away completely.Therailroadtracksthat used torunalongthefront werewipedout. Therewasatrainterminal,atrainstation, at thefoot of WaianuenueAvenueand that waswipedout.Thebridgecrossing theWailukuRiver whichmarkedthe boundary of Hilotownwasasteel bridge that waswipedout.It wasmovedupriver. Thewavewassostrongit took thesteel structureandmoved it about a100 yards uptheriver.It stayedtherefor quitea while.What elsedoI remember about it?

Me:Didyouknow any of them?

Ohno.Andthat'sabout theonly storiesI know about thetsunami.

Me:Didyouwalk aroundHilo afterwards?

Ohno.I wasayoungkidat that time,what wasit??46?(1946)I wasabout 10 yearsold.

Me:Didyounoticeany changesat the beachat all?

Well,theMainStreet goingalong thefront of Hiloit'scalledKamehameha Avenue.Therewerebusinessesonboth sidesof thestreet.Onthelower sideof Kamehamehaor towardstheocean,all thebusinessesweredestroyed,of course. They wereall gone.My dadhadhisoffice at thecorner of Kamehamehaand Waianuenue.Whichisabout ablock away fromtheWailukuriver.Hilotownis cut off onbothsidesby rivers.TheWailua River onthissideandtheWailukuonthis side.My dad'sofficewasabout ablock away fromtheWailukuRiver but hehad movedhisofficefromthelower sideto theother sideof thestreet.

It wastotal devastationonthelower side. ByronandI chatted abit after.He went totheUniversity of Hawai?i at Manoaandearned adegreeinZoology. Hethenmoved toIndianaandcontinued hiseducationat IndianaUniversity.We talkedabout someareasinHawai?i we botharefamiliar with.Wealsotalked about Hawaiianfood.Hehadn't hadpoi mochi donuts,yet.Soonafter,his daughter picked himuptotakehimhome. ByronYoshimalivesinOlympia, Washington.Heis86 yearsold.According totheHiloTsunami Museumthey have only eight storiesfrompeoplewhowere inHilofor the1946 tsunami.Soon,aswe progressfurther intotheinformationera, wewill havefewer peopletotell events likethese.Socall your eldersandask themabout past eventsor timesinhistory that they recall.Their storieswill fascinateyou.