MY FAVORITE PHOTO: Pearl and Pepper

I've taken at least 10,000 photos throughout my life, maybe even 100,000.  The one I most value is this 1963 shot of Pearl and Pepper at our backyard in Kiluaea, Kauai:

To set the stage, I had the year before graduated from Stanford in June, found myself working as a sugar engineer at Hutchinson Sugar Company in Naalehu (Big Island of Hawaii), bought a Triumph TR-3 and met Pearl in September.  We got married in December, and I soon found myself in basic training at Schofield Barracks in the Army Reserve.  I returned to join the famed 442.  In the meantime, someone gave her a 6-week puppy she named Pepper.

We were sent by C. Brewer to Kilauea, Kauai, where I was Pepper's trainer.  Something about German Shepherds, they listen more to the "boss," me, than who nurtures their beginning and feeds them, Pearl.  He was so smart that he could open the faucet to drink water.  Unfortunately, we could not train him to turn it off.  We loaned him to a family at the Kilauea Light House with a female German Shepherd.  Not sure what happened.

But why is that photo so memorable?  For one, in the background is Slippery Slide from the 1958 South Pacific, my favorite film.  In the pool below is where France Nuyen and John Kerr swam, to subsequently be serenaded by Bloody Mary with Happy Talk.  Remarkably, Pearl and France looked like twins, and they were born in the same year.  Pepper grew to 140 pounds.  

At the Kilauea Sugar Company, executives came and went all the time.  There were so many farewell parties that the standard supermarket buy was a case of Hiram Walker Ten High Bourbon....because it was the cheapest alcohol.  You can still find bottle for less than $10.  One of these gatherings was three blocks away from our home.  Pearl and I drove there.  At the end, I couldn't find my slippers.  Pepper had followed our car and took them home.

The plantation owned our cottage and grounds.  Visitors came by all the time to swim in the pond.  Once, Tommy Sands, Nancy Sinatra and their friends showed up.  See that waterfall?  During floods, the stream rose at least five feet higher and flowed without any waterfall.

Kilauea was where I won a sunflower growing contest.  Here is Pearl with one that grew to 16 feet and produced a sunflower (seed portion) with a circumference of around 53 inches.  I baked it, added salt, and used it as the centerpiece of our pu-pu table.

There were various beaches, like Anini, where we collected sea shells and those glass balls from Japan.  Hanalei Bay, where South Pacific was filmed, was a short drive away, and fishing was fun.  Pineapple was free because a plantation had closed down.

The largest oio (bonefish) and aweoweo can be found on the northern shores of Kauai.  This one was almost eleven pounds, but was caught nearer to Oahu.









The Kilauea News had an article of our presence, and an old man came up to me one day and said he knew my grandfather.  Read all about this encounter.

In short, Kenjiro (I am Kenji, so was named after him) came to Kilauea from somewhere in the USA, going there from Utashinai to learn something in the 1890's.  Must have something to do with energy or tunnels, for he became in charge of building the 3 MW Wainiha Powerhouse in 1906. More than a century later I finally visited that site and saw that essentially the same system was still generating 3 MW.

In addition to all those plantation parties, our social life centered at the Coco Palms, a fancy hotel not far from Kilauea.  Bunny Brown and his Hilo Hawaiians were among a host of others who came to entertain.  Elvis' Blue Hawaii was filmed here in 1961.

We only spent a year in Kilauea, but that period was most memorable.  Plus, I found my local roots.

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THE ISLAND OF KAUAI

 We arrived into Kahului, Maui.  Haleakala, 10, 023 feet tall.

A ten-minute walk away is Maui Mall.  Might go there for some exercise later today.  If so, I'll surely have some Tasaka guri-guri, a concoction that is an ice cream sherbert.  Cash only shop.

The Silver Whisper's itinerary did not have Kauai as a stop.  If on our schedule, the ship would not have been able to stop there because of damage caused by Hurricane Lowell.  However, as Kauai has been in the news lately I thought I'd use this day to provide some background for those reading this posting considering a vacation there.  

• Hurricane Lowell cause considerable damage to Kauai, including knocking out power to 90% of residents.

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  That is bad enough, but Kauai was a few days ago identified as having a  COVID positivity rate of 13%.  Authorities began to take measures when this number reaches 10%.  And, by the way, we heard from a 15 Craigide resident that there are new cases there.  Haven't bothered to confirm that rumor, but if so, hope that problem will go away by the time we return on September 13.

I have had many memorable experiences on Kauai, which is where my family history in Hawaii began.  First, some facts about the island.

• Is the 21st largest island in the USA,
• Population of 73,730,  Was 58,500 in 2000,
• Called the Garden Island,
• Is the largest island in the county, with Niihau, Kauula and Lehua.  You now know that there are four islands in Kauai Country.  Few people living in Hawaii know that,

• 
  Well, actually, Kauula and Lehua are not islands, but islets, with a total land area for both of 0.7 square miles,
• Kaaula, 158 acres, but with a volanic tuff cone that reaches up to 548 feet,  Not on the map to the right, but located around 23 miles southwest of Niihau,
• Lehua is around 280 acres, with Mount Lehua at an elevation of 705 feet.  Is less than a mile north of Niihau.  As you can see, is crescent shape.  No one lives on either islet.  

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  Niihau had a population of 170 in 2010, but this has dropped to between 70 and 184, all native Hawaiians.  
• Called the Forbidden Island.  
• Elizabeth Sincair purchased Niihau and parts of Kauai from King Kamehameha V in 1864 for what today is worth $2.28 million.  
• By 1875 there were 350 Native Hawaiians and 20,000 sheep.

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  In 1915, grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most visitors and public access since then have been very limited.
• The current owners, primarily now Leiana Robinson, bans alcohol and tobacco, and if a resident leaved for an extended period, that person can't return.  No long hair for women and beards for men.  No electricity, paved roads, telephone and running water.  I have a friend who went there to manage the synthetic natural gas supply.

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  There is a small Navy installation, but no one is permanently stationed there.  But 80% of island income comes from the placement of Pacific Missile Range tracking facilities.
• Interestingly, Franklin D. Roosevelt considered Niihau as the possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944. 

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  Since 1991 another source of income are tourists in hunting safaris for eland, aoadad, oryx, wild sheep and boars.
• Residents tend to vote Republican and speak Hawaiian.
• There is K-12 education powered by the sun.

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  History,
• Polynesian explorers came from the Marquesas or Society Islands as early as 600 AD.
• A second wave from Tahiti around 1100 AD.

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  1778:  James Cook.
• King Kamehameha I tried to conquer island in 1796.  Second try cancelled because of an epidemic.
• 1810:  Kauai ruler Kaumualii ceded Kauai to the Kingdom of Hawaii,
• The Russian Empire attempted to gain entry and built a fort in Waimea in 1817.  But were forced leave.

• 
  From 1830 into the mid-20 century, sugar companies dominated the economy,  I worked at the Kilauea Sugar Company in 1963.  118-year old Gay and Robinson Plantation was the last to close sugar operations in 2008.

• 
  Norwegian Valdemar Knudsen became prominent, mostly in sugar, from 1857.
• Pineapple started in 1906 and left in 1962.
• More recently, rancher and wellness baron Frank VanderSloot had the only large farming operation.
• Mark Zuckerberg came in 2014 with the purchase of 700 aces,  now up to 1650 acres.  Has spent $145 million to develop his property, including rearing Wagyu beef. 

• 
  Highest peak is Kawaikini at 5243 feet.  Second highest is Mount Waialeale, one of the rainiest spots on earth, averaging 460 inches.year,
• Waimea Canyon, the Hawaii version of the Grand Canyon is 3600 feet deep, but still above sea level.

• Na Pali Coast is on the northside, and while accessible, is best scene from a cruise.

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  Tourism is the largest industry.
• Has 3 high schools and a branch of the University of Hawaii,
• Home to the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the west side.

Sugar cane waste once supplied most the energy for electricity.

• That changed to 92% oil when sugar closed down.
• Today, 56% fossil fuels,9% hydro, 12% biomass and 223% solar,
• Cities;
• Lihue, country seat, is in the south where there is an airport. 8000 population.
• 6 miles east is Kapaa with 10,000.
• More people along the western coast,On the northeast is Kilauea, where I once worked, with a population of 3000.
• Princeville, further north, has more recently developed with hotels.  2,158 people.

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  A road does not circle the island.
• Go west from Lihue for the more touristy sites.
• Go east for other things.
• There are a 100 different places worth visiting.
• Kauai has been featured in more than 70 films and TV shows.

Kauai provides incredible memories for me.

• My father's father, Kenjiro, got educated somewhere in the USA, and on his way home to Japan, stopped off on Kauai in 1903, where he was hired to build in Wainiha the first hydroelectric plant in Hawaii.
• Happened to be an eligible girl there, so got married and produced my father.
• Unfortunately, died at the age of 33 at the powerplant site a few months before the facility was commissioned in 1906.  Then produced 4 MW.  Today, 120 years later, still generates 3MW with mostly the same water delivery system and equipment.

I was here planning to go into details about what I was doing in Kilauea, Kauai, but will instead only copy a blog I posted on 31March2009.

Tomorrow I continue my quest to search for Kenjiro's grandmothers. The following excerpt is from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth:

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In 1963, after a short stint in the Army Reserves, while on a trainee assignment to the Kilauea Sugar Company on Kauai, a newsletter noted my arrival. A very old man came up to me one day and said he had known my grandfather. My initial reaction was mild astonishment, as while I knew that my father had been born on Kauai, I don’t recall him talking much about his parents. That individual said my grandfather was involved with the Wainiha Powerhouse and was extraordinary, in that he was very well educated and served as a supervisor. Unfortunately, he died only a few years after arriving and was buried up on the hill above the town. My family knew I was on this island. Why had no one said that I should visit my grandfather’s burial spot, for the culture of even Hawaii Japanese, was to honor the dead. Then again, maybe someone did and I did not pay any attention.

Well, returning to 1963, weeks later, this gentleman came back and said he had found the gravestone, which was outside the cemetery fence, and that he and his friends went on to restore the area. He led me there and took a photo of me with his daughter, two neighbor children and Pearl. I am today, 44 years later, now kicking myself, for I never really expressed my thanks to him. Only as I write this sentence do I appreciate the enormity of what he did, for I recently used this finding as the starting point for my roots search. Also too, I never bothered to ask him for details about my grandfather. I did, though, mail a copy of that photo to my older brother, Stan.

I pretty much forgot about all this until 2005, when I got a sudden urge to search for my roots. At this point, all I had were a few rumors. Yes, there was that encounter on Kauai 42 years previously and my first visit to the grave of my father’s father. Deep in my brain cells were wild thoughts of this grandfather being educated at Columbia University, his grandmother being a female samurai Robin Hood on Hokkaido…but no proof. And I still did not even know what his first name was. So the process of searching for my roots started at a one day workshop held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. This is where I created the family mon as a composite of two classic versions.  I colorized this official form into the rainbow version shown above, which then became the cover for SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth. The mon represents a high bridge (Takahashi means high bridge in Japanese) to connect countries and people taking the high road to cooperation. This book hopes to serve this function.

In September of 2005, Pearl and I visited Misa Tamura, the son-in-law of that older gentleman, to find the gravestone on Kauai. Misa, himself, was well into his 80’s by then, and he asked if we also wanted to see my grandfather’s powerhouse, for somehow, the community even then, a century later, referred to the site as Takahashi’s powerhouse. The Wainiha Powerhouse was commissioned in 1906, and today produces 4 MW with essentially the same incoming pipes and generation equipment. Around this time, my brother, Stan, found the earlier photo and sent me a note that the name on the gravestone was Kenjiro Takahashi. Thus, I learned for the first time that I was named after this grandfather, for my middle name is Kenji.

There were still huge doubts on what was real until I had the good fortune to sit next to Elsie and David Ikegami at a 50th year Wedding Anniversary party of a mutual friend. David was born in Utah, was a Mormon, but lived most of his life in Hawaii. At the age of 80, he ran one of those Mormon family centers famous for conducting these root searches. I visited his office and passed on all the information I had, which was not much. Within two weeks his staff found a nine page document signed by the Secretary of the Territory of Hawaii showing that Kenjiro came to Kauai from America, was originally from Hokkaido, Japan, and served as a luna, or supervisor, at the Kilauea Plantation. He fell at the hydro site in 1906 and died in the same year that the powerhouse commenced operations. Well, with most of what I thought was largely made up now turning out to be true, the search was intensified with a trip to Utashinai, his home village, and will continue for Kenjiro’s grandmothers in Akita on Honshu and Otaru, just outside of Sapporo. Even if I find nothing else, there is enough already to write a book, tracing this possible female samurai Robin Hood to me. At this time, this one looms as a novel.

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So tomorrow I'm off to search for Kenjiro's grandmothers in Otaru and Akita. As Japanese kosekis only go back 80 years, and these great-great grandmothers were all born around circa 1825, perhaps church records or folk tales will provide the only clues. As neither Pearl nor I read or communicate in Japanese, Hiromi Hotta, wife of Nihon University Ocean Engineering professor, Kenji Hotta, will be with us. She, too, has roots in Otaru, so she has been looking forward to this combined expedition.

Before I close, thought I would add this photo of my wife Pearl and dog Pepper, and quote from a 16November2019 posting:

This is the backyard of our small cottage in Kilauea, Kauai.  The pool behind them is where Bloody Mary sang Happy Talk in the movie South Pacific.

You might want to read this posting because it goes on to say something about Pearl and France Nuyen, plus more on that 4MW hydro facility on Kauai.  And, scrolling down to the next posting, the life Pepper had on Kauai, for he passed away just as we were leaving the island.

Cant forget the 25th anniversary of 9/11/2001.

• Was the deadliest foreign attack on American soil in history.
• Killed 2,977, plus 19 hijackers.
• Both towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were demolished, a plane struck the Pentagon in DC and Flight 93 crashed into a Philadelphia field.
• Incidentally, #2 on this list was something I saw.  On 7December1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, killing 2403 Americans.  64 Japanese servicemen died, 29 of their aircraft were shot down and 5 midget submarines were destroyed.

One more addition.  Remember yesterday when I indicated that Episode 55 of the Kilauea eruption could well occur when tours from the Silver Whisper were visiting the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?  Well, there are clear precursors, but, as of this writing, no eruption yet.  Click on this to view a camera on livestream where an eruption should occur today,

• For this current Kilauea eruption, which started on 23December2024, the highest lava fountain came on 10March2026 in Episode 43:  1770 feet to the right. The Empire State Building is 1454 feet tall.
• The Kilauea eruption of 1959 into 1960 produced a fountain of 1900 feet on 17December1959, below.

Impressed?  Here is a graphic comparing the tallest fountains, #1 being Mount Etna in 2013 with a fountain of 11,155 feet (3400 meters).

Mount Etna to the left.

While maybe this confuses you, here is a video that shows there have been fountains that reached 22,200 feet.  In 2025, Discovery wrote about the 1886 eruption of Tarawera in New Zealand that produced lava fountains of 32,000 feet.  The article explained that this might have been an explosive eruption, and goes on to describe this type of volcanic bombs.  Below is a painting by Charles Blomfield of this eruption from eyewitness accounts.  He lived from 1848 to 1926.

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OUR DOG PEPPER

The New York Times this morning shared some good information.  The first had to do with why Africa and Asia, many countries without much health resources, were left relatively untouched by the COVID-19 virus:

Why?

• Poorer countries are younger:
• In sub-Saharan Africa, only 3% of the population is 65 or older.
• Pakistan is at 4%
• The USA is at 16%, while the European Union has 20% 65 or older.
• 80% of U.S. deaths occurred among people 65 or older.
• People in those poorer countries spend more time outdoors and have their window/doors open for better ventilation.
• Many in these poorer countries have already historically been besieged by a wider range of microbes.  Thus, many of them are naturally immune to COVID-19.
• Some of these countries, like Ghana and Vietnam, immediately restricted entry into their country, distributed medical masks and subscribed to rapid COVID-19 tests.

Also from the NYT:

The number of new cases fell in the U.S. yesterday for the ninth straight day, according to The Times’s seven-day moving average.

• Israel is reopening indoor dining to people over 16 who are fully vaccinated.
• Planes, sleds and snowmobiles: how Alaska became the state with the highest rate of fully vaccinated residents.
• The Times spoke to more than 50 people close to Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri about his rise and Trump-era turn.
• Here’s what’s in President Biden’s stimulus bill, which is scheduled to go before the House for final approval tomorrow.

My topic of the day is the first of a series of photos I will show from a long time ago.  I recently threw away around 5,000 slides, but first scanned through most of them and selected a couple of hundred which I will digitize.  The Wolverine film to digital converter costs $150 from Amazon.  If I can do this, you can.

Among the first to be converted were of Pearl and Pepper.  To the left is the photo I have used in this blog at least a dozen times.  Our dog Pepper is really Pearl's dog Pepper.  I sidestepped the draft to join the Army Reserves and went away for basic training.  Pearl adopted Pepper when he was six weeks old and took care of him until we eventually left the Big Island for Kilauea, Kauai.  She was his mother and fed him every day.  All I did was try to train him and be a friend.  

Here he is at 3 months, then six and eight:

When we first drove from Lihue to Kilauea, we stopped by the Kaloko Reservoir.  Pepper, who had never swum before, jumped into the water and went to the middle, then came back.  That was a frightening experience.

More than half a century later, the dam, after a storm, burst, killing seven people.  Apparently, the owner, James Plueger (who at that time owned the Honda company from which I had bought a Fit), was charged with manslaughter.  He ended up paying the families off and the company name was changed to Pacific Honda.

I also was in charge of giving him a bath, once/week.  I threw a stick in our backyard river, maybe ten yards left of that top photo with a waterfall.  It never occurred to me that the current would pull him over the falls.  He returned with the stick, I shampooed him and threw the stick back in.  When he returned, that was his bath.  

There was a slippery slide the movie South Pacific constructed just out of sight close to the bank next to our backyard.  The pool below was where France Nuyen and John Kerr swam, and just to the right on the opposite side is where Bloody Mary sang to them Happy Talk.  

This is scary, but it once rained 19 inches in one day, and that river was ten feet higher...and there was no waterfall.

It seems unfair, but he liked me more.  I think it has something to do with training and loyalty in a German Shepherd.  I recall Pearl and I once drove to a reception, which would  have been a ten to fifteen minute walk.  Many times Pepper was left free to roam.  Well, he somehow found the party (which was indoors), and using smell, I guess, took both my slippers home.

The first time we (Pepper and I) went reef fishing, I caught a Hinalea, which, for reasons I did not know then, threw them back.  Turns out the reason is many are infected with ciguatera.  So I gave the fish to Pepper.  He walked back to the beach (about 25 yards away), dug a hole, placed the fish in, and covered it with sand.  Must have been instinctive.

The three of us regularly drove to a beach and walked around.  Here we are at Hanalei Beach, the first scene in South Pacific, and you can see the pier.

I saw a rather large piece of wood on the beach and inadvertently tossed it into the sea.  I too late realized that Pepper was going to retrieve it.  A large wave came, pulled him under and he disappeared for what seemed like a full minute.  Then the middle photo showed that a rip-tide had sent him further out.  The third photo is Pepper with what he retrieved.

We also went to the Kilauea Lighthouse, where he was smart enough not to chase those birds:

When he was one-year old, we gave him away because we knew we were going to be traveling more, and there were no home-caring services.  He was just too big for neighbors.  

I worked in the sugar mill, and to get to my office, you had to walk into the middle of the factory, then way up some rickety steps.  One day, I returned from lunch, and he was waiting for me next to my desk.  How he got there is another one of those mysteries.  I dropped him off to his new owner.  A few weeks later we learned that he ate something poisonous, and died.  He was the last pet we owned.  The grief was the most both of us felt, ever.  I still think about it.

So, again, the full photo of Pearl and her dog Pepper:

To close, a really cute, and amazing video, of another dog:

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