She stay retire now, but Karleen Chinen, 72 wuz doing various forms of journalism for most her life. She wuz one newscast producer at KHON, one overnight news anchor at KHVH radio, and she did chree [three] stints at The Hawai‘i Herald, which wuz Hawai‘i's Japanese American Journal. She knows her stories. And she hates missing out on good ones.
Das why when her friend Ed Kuba suggested that she write one book about Hawai‘i's Okinawan community, she thought about 'em, den she wen figgah out da book she needed for write before da stories got lost to time. Several years in da making, 2025 wen finally mark da release of Born Again Uchinanchu: Celebrating Hawaii’s Chibariyo! Story.
[Disclosure: Karleen Chinen wuz my former, former, former editor at TheHawai‘i Herald before dey ceased publication.]
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Lee Tonouchi (LT): What school you went, what year you grad?
Karleen Chinen (KC): I just say Kalani. My friend Ed Kuba calls it Punahou East. Grad 1970.
LT: What your ethnic backgrounds?
KC: Okinawan 100%.
LT: What generation you and what village you from?
KC: Sansei on both sides. 100% Sansei. My father’s side came from Misato-son. The founders of our Okinawan club, Bito Doshi Kai, were Issei and descendants of Issei from the villages of Misato, Koza and Tobaru, which today are part of Okinawa City. My mother’s family was from Takahara village in Awase, which, along with Aza Yogi and Goeku are also part of today’s Okinawa City. My family has only been involved in Bito Doshi Kai, which got the name Bito from an elementary school that the Issei emigrants attended before immigrating to Hawai‘i.
LT: You told me before you grew up in ‘Āinakoa. Das one interesting neighborhood. How come had so many veterans living by you?
KC: My family lived at Mānoa Housing until I was five years old. Then we moved to ‘Āinakoa and I started elementary at Kāhala Elementary. Where we lived was a veterans tract.
LT: Veterans tract? I not familiar. You can try explain what that.
KC: My dad, Wallace Chinen, was an original member of the 100th Infantry Battalion. He served in Italy until the end of the war. Around the 1950s, Bishop Estate, which never sold land in fee, offered WWII veterans the opportunity to buy their homes and land in fee. I think it was their way of thanking the veterans for their service during the war. Non-veteran home buyers were restricted to leasehold land. ‘Āinakoa became a “veterans tract.” There were also veterans tracts in Pālolo, Mānoa and Hālawa, among other places.
LT: So in your book Born Again Uchinanchu you say while studying journalism at da University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa you also took some Ethnic Studies classes. You can try explain how that wen help you write your book?
KC: Ethnic Studies gave me a new and different perspective on history. It told history from the perspective of regular people, not just the leaders, like most books do. It valued the experiences of regular people who helped to move communities forward.
LT: When I first heard your title Born Again Uchinanchu, I wondered if wuz going be one spiritual book. You can try explain da meaning behind your title?
KC: If you are of Okinawan ancestry, you are born Okinawan. At some point while growing up, many of us get “Americanized” and stray from our roots. If we’re lucky, something pulls us back and we develop an interest in Okinawan culture and get involved in the community. That’s when you are “born again Uchinānchu.”
LT: For Born Again Uchinanchu you mainly focus on da Sansei generation of Okinawans in Hawai‘i from 1980-2000. Try tell how come you decided for focus on that time period.
KC: We focused on that period because it was kind of a turning point when so much was accomplished. Thirty-six of the 37 people in the 1980 “Young Leaders” tour to Okinawa were Sansei. After they returned to Hawai‘i, they got involved in the UOA [United Okinawan Association of Hawaii, which in 1995 became the HUOA Hawaii United Okinawa Association] and their clubs and formed the Young Okinawans of Hawaii club. The Nisei supported these efforts.
UOA’s first Sansei president, Ken Kiyabu, came from the “Young Leaders” tour group, as did the president-elect Roy Kaneshiro, vice president Gary Mijo and others. Roy pushed for the introduction of the Okinawan Festival after experiencing the Naha Matsuri during the tour, although he couldn’t chair it because he was UOA president that year. Gary Mijo co-chaired the Hawaii Okinawa Center [HOC] project, which opened in 1990, and in 1980, 1990 and 2000, the UOA/HUOA received state funding to commemorate those anniversaries of Okinawan immigration to Hawai‘i. The state funds were to hold Okinawan cultural and educational activities for the general public.
LT: So you tink if wuzn't for that initial leadership tour den we might not even have one Hawaii Okinawa Center in Waipi‘o and we might nevah have had one annual Okinawan Festival either?
KC: It might have happened anyway, but maybe at a slower pace and probably with a lot less enthusiasm. It was also the era of the Hawaiian renaissance and ethnic pride among many ethnic groups, so the timing was ideal for the Okinawan projects to move forward.
LT: My grandparents told me their story about how dey gave big money to da construction of da Hawaii Okinawa Center, but den dey heard later that somebody wen go kakaroach [steal] some of da monies so that soured dem on da idea of eva donating more money. You eva came across any scandal li'dat in your research?
KC: I knew a little bit about it, but from what I remember, it was a really confusing case. Also, the principals couldn’t be reached. The former president who filed the suit had died and I couldn’t locate the other former president who took the money. I asked around and was told that he had left Hawai‘i and that his family had repaid the money. I didn’t want to write about it without being able to interview the principals. The community continued to support HUOA and the HOC in spite of the incident, so I think they saw a bigger picture — that one person should not pull the entire community down.
LT: Did you strongly identify as Okinawan as one youth?
KC: I remember going to Bito Club picnics and shinnenkai with my parents and my siblings when I was a kid. I didn’t understand that they were specifically Okinawan because I didn’t really know or understand what was Okinawan. Like most kids, I liked the picnic because of the races and the prizes and the shave ice. I remember being kinda fascinated by the musicians who played music at our shinnenkai, especially the taiko player because there was a rhythm to his playing. For the most part, we just ran around and had fun at Daikoku Tei, where our shinnenkai was held, until the party moved to Victoria Inn in Kaimukī.
LT: So when wuz YOUR "born again" moment?
KC: I had several, but I think I really felt proud of being Okinawan when I took the Ethnic Studies: Japanese in Hawai‘i class at UH. We had a potluck and we were encouraged to bring something ethnic, so I told my mom that I wanted to bring kandabā jūshī [Okinawan sweet potato leaf rice porridge]. She said it was common people’s food. I told her that it was good, so she made a batch for me to take and everybody loved it. It made me proud to be Okinawan. I began to pay more attention to Okinawan culture.
After I graduated from UH, I worked at KHON in news and public affairs. One day in 1982 or 1983, John Tasato was driving by the station, which was on Auahi Street, where TJ Maxx is located now. He had an idea so he parked and came in to the station to ask if we could make a commercial for the Okinawan Festival. He was the publicity chair. I was asked to come out to the lobby to talk to him. After learning the UOA was a nonprofit organization, I told him that we could produce a public service announcement. I took the lead on it. It was the first of many PSAs I produced for the festivals. Remembering that reminds me that I have known John Tasato for over forty years and how it made me increasingly proud of my Okinawan heritage.
LT: In your book, lotta da leaders you talk about in da Okinawan community stay your contemporaries, yeah. So I wuz wondering, how come YOU not part of dis story too?
KC: The book isn’t about me. It’s about the community and the everyday people who contributed to it so that it is what it is today. I wanted readers to know about them. I was involved as a volunteer and covering events for The Hawai‘i Herald, which is why I felt that I could do a decent job of writing the book.
LT: Da one significant ting I thought your book nevah talk much about much wuz da creation of da 1981 book Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawaii. It got one brief mention, but that wuz one massive project and so I wondered how come you nevah talk about that project sa'more?
KC: I think that Uchinanchu history book provided good factual and statistical information. The oral history part was mainly the Issei interviews. We wanted Born Again Uchinanchu to be people’s stories from 1980 forward. I think the books complement each other.
LT: Who you grateful to in helping you along your way in realizing your dream project.
KC: Born Again Uchinanchu happened because Ed Kuba had the vision and believed it was important to tell these stories before they are lost because people die and/or forget. He contacted me and asked me whether I would consider writing the book. He had read my Hawai‘i Herald stories on the Okinawan community over the years.
LT: Lotta da sansei you mention in your book wuz full Okinawan. Nowdays with more and more interethnic marriages get lotta yonsei and gosei who might be several ethnicities, so even though dey part Okinawan, dey might choose NOT for identify as Okinawan. Cuz of that do you foresee one future wea maybe Okinawan culture might fade away in Hawai‘i?
KC: I hope Okinawan culture will always be a part of Hawai‘i’s cultural landscape. The culture is dynamic and colorful and the community, fortunately, has been welcoming to people of all ethnicities. I also believe that “Uchinānchu” has a broader meaning, that one does not have to be of Okinawan ancestry to be “Uchinānchu.” I believe that it’s what is in your heart, which is why the Uchinānchu at heart section [in the book] is important.
There are many people who are Okinawan in blood who are not involved in the Okinawan community at all, while others who have no Okinawan blood feel at home in the community. In that sense, heart is more important than blood.
© 2025 Lee A. Tonouchi
