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Remembering the Past ...
HANAMA`ULU'S HAJIME MORITA
| Hajime Morita (1903-2008) |
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| Photo : Sanae Morita |
NUKOLII, on the shoreline between Hanama`ulu
and Wailua, was the site of the Lihue Plantation
Dairy, also known as Hanama`ulu Dairy and Nukoli`i Dairy. During World War II, the Marine Camp was located along the
same shoreline stretch, and today old-timers often refer to the area as Marine Camp.
HAJIME MORITA was Hanama`ulu Dairy's reliable
milkman from 1922 to 1948, delivering milk house-to-
house in Hanama`ulu, Wailua, Waipouli, Kapaa,
Kealia, Kapaia, Lihue, Ahukini, Nawiliwili, and
Niumalu.
The tidal wave on April 1, 1946, decimated the dairy and in 1948 Morita was loaned out to Waimea Dairy to help with the transition
when Waimea Dairy bought Lihue Plantation's milk facility. Subsequently, Morita was assigned to the trucking department at
Hanama`ulu from which he retired in 1968 at age 65.
HAJIME MORITA and his family celebrated his100th birthday with a get-together in Las Vegas in September 2003. He did
not "hit the mega bucks slot jackpot" as he had hoped, but it didn't matter -- he already won life's century award!
And on September 7, 2004, he reached the magnificent palindrome age of 101!
HAJIME NAKAKURA of Anahola married Yei Morita at Koolau on May 6, 1922. That year Hajime, who took the name "Morita"
to continue his wife's family name, moved to Lihue Plantation from Kilauea Plantation as a truck driver, and it was at Hanama`ulu
that the newly weds settled to make their home and where they raised six children -- Haruo, Kaoru, Mitsuo, Mabel, William,
and Ruth, who died at three-months old.
HAJIME MORITA received a special commendation from the Prime Minister of Japan on October 13, 2004, for having reached
the 100th anniversary of his birth. A delegation from the Japanese Consulate on O`ahu, escorted by Kaua`i representatives,
delivered the commendation to Mr. Morita at his plantation-style home in Waimea Valley, with members of his family present.
HAJIME MORITA, still physically fit and mentally sharp, lives in Waimea with Helen Hamada, his companion of over 20 years.
His wife Yei passed away in 1979.
SOURCES:
[Morita, Sanae, et al.] "The Life and Times of Hajime Morita." August 2003. Typescript. 20 p.
The Garden Island. Oct. 14, 2004, A1: col. 2-3, port.; A6:1-2. Also various issues.
The Lihue Plantation News. May 1951; April 1954.
--By Catherine Pascual Lo -- Aug./Oct. 2004
OBITUARY
MAHELONA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL was home to Hajime Morita from 2005 until his death on February 29, 2008, at age 104.
Obituary notice: THE GARDEN ISLAND, Tuesday,
March 4, 2008, A8:1-3. The notice was printed in other issues of the newspaper.
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