Masaru “Pundy” Yokouchiand

Senator Daniel K. Inouye:

By Tom Blackburn-RodriguezWith Myrna Stone, Editor, Real Estate Maui Style

A Friendship thatChanged Maui

Forever

A Friendship thatChanged Maui

Forever

he list ofaccomplishments islong. The Maui EconomicDevelopment Board, bringing theSupercomputer to Maui, present at the birth ofMaui’s High Tech economy that now employs1, 500 people, the establishment of the Maui

Arts and Cultural Center with top flight entertainment,exhibits and community programs, the preservation ofMaui’s precious open spaces, countless assistance to supportMaui’s business community, her non-profits and theislands infrastructure—all of those were on my mind as Ithought of the interview that Myrna Stone had workedfor weeks to schedule with Masaru “Pundy” Yokouchi and

Senator Daniel K. Inouye,and what the partnershipbetween them had accom-plished for Maui. Thesewere two powerful men,and even though theywere close friends, it hadbeen difficult to schedulethe interview. It wasfinally set to take placeduring a busy workingvisit to Hawaii, one ofmany over the yearsthat often had SenatorInouye traveling some5,000 miles fromWashington, DC., tohis home state.

Yet, drivingup to the entranceof the expansivehome of Masaru

Yokouchi, or “Pundy” ashis friends and colleagues call him,

I found my mind wandering away fromthose accomplishments to thoughts about

the entrance to another building, and toanother more modest home. That small home is

as unimposing as this one is grand. It does nothave an entrance flanked by landscaped palm trees

to welcome the many visitors who have driven up thatlong curving driveway to a beautiful home. A homedesigned by the noted architect James Dickey and wasonce owned by Wailuku Sugar as the residence of thecompany’s General Manager.

But to know something of Pundy Yokouchi, one mustspend some time in the memory of that smaller building, abakery and store where Pundy’s mother and his oldersister rose at 4:00 AM to serve fresh pastry and coffee tothe workers who were heading off to work at the Mill.Pundy’s father purchased the bakery for $2,000 in 1922.He had earlier joined a Tanamoshi, a Japanese bankingsystem used by immigrants to make investments and buildwealth in their new homeland. When his father joined heinvested along with 7 others in a pineapple field, guaran-teeing the loan with his signature. A good profit seemedassured, and then disaster struck when a storm destroyedthe crop, leaving his father $7,000 in debt.

Although all his savings were gone, when he heard of

TT

Masaru “Pundy” Y

A Friendship tA Friendship t

Maui Style ❘ LivingMaui

a bakery for sale inWailuku Pundy’s fatherborrowed another $2,000from the Tanamoshi andopened what becameknown as the YokouchiBakery. It was hard workwith long hours, buteventually the entire debtwas repaid and the familyliving quarters over thestore became Pundy’sfirst home.

Although he did notknow it, and would notmeet him until 1948,another young boy wasbeing shaped by theunique circumstances ofhis family. A boy whowould eventuallybecome one of Pundy’sbest friends and rise tobecome a member of

Opposite: Pundyexcelled in sports whilein school. Among themwas basketball. Here he"guards" an opponentfor a back yard familyphoto.

Above: PundyYokouchi and theSenator first brieflymet in 1948. Sincethat time they haveforged a friendshipthat has lasted untiltoday, benefitingMaui in countlessways.

Below: SenatorDaniel K. Inouye inhis office at thecapitol in 1962.

” Yokouchi and Senator Daniel K. Inouye:

p that Changed Maui Foreverp that Changed Maui ForeverBy Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez

With Myrna Stone, Editor, Real Estate Maui Style

the United States Senate. That boy was Dan Inouye. Hisgrandparents arrived on Maui with a contract obligatingthem to work 60 hours and six days a week for $12.50 amonth. But they, too, would experience difficulty andstruggle. Both would die, leaving their daughter Kame anorphan who would be graciously taken in by a Hawaiianfamily for a year, eventually being taken from that familyin 1909 and sent to a home for children run by theMethodist Church in Honolulu.

There, the Bishop responsible for the home came byfor a Sunday visit, asking each child, as was his custom,“What would you like?” The answer, as each child alreadyknew, was “A piece of candy.” As the Bishop passed amongthe children, distributing their reward, he spotted a childwho had only recently arrived. No one had told her whatto say in answer to the Bishop’s question.

He approached her and leaning down asked her,“What would you like?” Her answer was clear and forth-right. “I’d like a home,” she said. As Senator Inouye tells it,“To his everlasting glory, the next day the Bishop cameback and took my mother home, and when I was bornmy mother named me for him. He was the Reverend

Doctor Daniel Kleinfelder and so I am Daniel K.Inouye.”

Daniel K. Inouye was born in 1924. The boy whowas to become his friend, political supporter andeventually a partner in laying the groundwork forthe Maui of the 21st century was to be born a yearlater in 1925.

Senator Inouye attributes his concern for theHawaiian people to his mother. He has searchedto find the family that initially took his mother in.All she could tell him is that they were “Auntyand Uncle.” As he grew up he remembers hismother telling him, “I cannot do anything to helpthe Hawaiian people, but you will be able to andyou can.”

While Pundy was selling pies to his class-mates at public school, eventually selling up to200 a day until school authorities told him tostop, and while young Dan Inouye was earningpocket money by cutting hair for his fellowstudents and parking cars at the old HonoluluStadium, the world moved at it’s own pace.The days of innocence would end onDecember 7, 1941, with the beginning of WorldWar II.

In March of 1943, Inouye enlisted in theU.S. Army’s 442 Regimental Combat Team, the“Go For Broke” regiment, leaving behind forev-er his premed studies at the University ofHawaii. In the fall of 1944, the war wouldtake his regiment to the Vosges Mountains ofFrance and into battle for two bloody weeksas they fought to rescue a Texas Battalionsurrounded by a much larger German forceforce. It became known in the annals ofWWII as the rescue of the “Lost Battalion.”

As a result of his action in battle,Inouye was awarded the Bronze Star andreceived a battlefield commission as aSecond Lieutenant. Later, in Italy, whileengaged in the assault of a heavily

defended hill in the final months of the war, Inouye waswounded in the stomach and yet still led an attack on amachine gun nest that had his men pinned down. In theensuing battle the force of a German rifle grenade shot atclose range shattered his right arm. It would take 20months of hospitalization before he could return home asa Captain with the Distinguished Service Cross, BronzeStar, Purple Heart with cluster and 12 other medals andcitations. Eventually a grateful nation upgraded hisDistinguished Service Cross (the second highest award formilitary valor) to the Medal of Honor. Despite all efforts,his right arm could not be saved.

The war had also uprooted Pundy, but he jokes thathe was a “Pineapple Soldier,” spending the war at theSchofield Barracks in Honolulu. Yet, he returned homewith the restlessness that characterized other G.I.’s of hisgeneration. While some, like Dan Inouye went to college,others, like Pundy, went into the family business.

“We had closed the store during the war,” he recalls,“because there was really nothing to sell, but we kept thebakery open. When I came back they asked me to helpout at the bakery and since I was never any good atschool I jumped at the chance.” Pundy would spend thenext 17 years at the Yokouchi Bakery before beginning a

part time career in real estate and eventually joining ValleyIsle Realty in 1964. Senator Inouye laughs when Pundymentions that he wasn’t very good in school. “No,he wasn’t very good. He just lives in the house ofthe former plantation manager.”

The laughter is fully justified. Pundy’ accom-plishments in real estate include his sale of theland that was to be known as Maui Meadows for$1 million. Over the years he has been thedriving force, or in partnerships, that have createdsome of the most significant projects on Maui.Among these are Ka‘anapali Ali‘i, Makena Surfand the development of the Grand Wailea andthe Four Seasons.

It was time for these two men to meet. Itwas 1948, and Dan Inouye had marriedMargaret Shinobu Awamura, or “Maggie” as hecalled her, who had been born in Wailuku andthen had moved to Oahu with her family as achild. John Burns, who at that time was Chairof the Honolulu Territorial Democratic CentralCommittee and would later become Governorin 1962, thought it would be a good idea forInouye to travel to Maui and meet a few of the communi-ty and political leaders. Among those he met were Nadao“Najo” Yoshinaga, who was to become a dominant forcein Maui politics, and a young Pundy Yokouchi.

As Pundy remembers it was not a long meeting. Hewas mostly concerned at the time with his business andwith sports, serving as a coach for a number of teams onMaui. As a result of his coaching activity he knew a lot ofpeople and could introduce them to those who wereinterested in elections. Politics was something that was nothis central passion.

His friend and mentor Najo, however, had other ideas.He took Pundy aside one day and told him that becausePundy knew a lot of people he could help out in politics.“You know, Pundy, how we raisemoney for

the Christmas Seals and other activities to help people outon Maui?” Najo said. “Well, if we had political control, justone law could provide more than all the money to helpthe people than we could ever raise on our own.”

But, it was not until 1954 that Pundy began to

become more engaged in politics, and he was to grow intoa major influence in the state and on Maui. For him businesswas his primary focus, but he helped in the election effort

that saw Inouye elected to

the Hawaii Territorial House ofRepresentatives in 1954, Inouye’s first major step in a lifelong electoral career of public service as a legislator.

By then Inouye and Pundy had formed a bond thatwas to last a lifetime. “He was helpful to us as we raisedthe limited amount of money that we needed to run inelections,” commented Inouye. “It wasn’t as expensive then,but he was able to help.” Pundy plays down his efforts. “Iwas foot soldier,” he says. “I knew a lot of guys and wecould get people to help out.” Inouye has a different view,“He was no foot soldier.” According to Pundy, “We kneweven in those days that Dan was going to go far. We

called him the ‘Golden Boy’ of Hawaii politics.People were drawn to him and his leadership wasrespected very early. That’s why he was chosen asthe Majority Leader in the Territorial House rightafter he was first elected.”

In 1958 Inouye was elected to the HawaiiTerritorial Senate. In 1959 he became the 50thState’s first Congressman. In 1962 he was elected tothe United States Senate and was reelected for the8th time in 2004.

During those intervening years of politicaltriumph for his friend Dan Inouye, Pundy left thebakery and began to make his mark in real estate.Remembering those days, he said, “When we

Opposite: After returning from WWII, Pundyentered the family baking business. He was to stay17 years, beginning in real estate full time withValley Isle Realty in 1964.Above: Pundy Yokouchi rests easily on the stage ofthe Maui Arts and Cultural Center. His vision of a

premier center for the presentation and performance of theArts has made Maui a highly valued venue of choice for topartists in all endeavors.Below: Senator Daniel K. Inouye speaking before the MauiEconomic Development Board. Senator Inouye was key tobringing the "Super Computer" to Maui that formed thecornerstone of the Maui High Tech Park. His continued supporthas led to the growth and development of the Park and overone thousand five hundred high-tech related jobs on Maui.

were young our friend Najo told us that we needed tosave our money and invest so that we could take care ofour families. So he asked Dr. Hung Wo Ching, theChairman of Aloha Airlines and a Harvard MBA, to meetwith us and give us some ideas about what to do. Dr.Ching told us to buy the least expensive life insurance wecould and to take themoney we saved eachmonth on our premi-ums and invest it.”

“We didn’t knowanything about invest-ing, so we asked himwhat he thought weshould do. He told usto invest in landbecause it was going upin value. But none of ushad a lot of money sowe decided to use aChinese method ofinvesting called the ‘Hui.’The Hui let us sellsmaller shares of a larg-er investment so thatmore people could getinvolved with lessmoney. Then the profit made when we sold the propertywas distributed among the members of the Hui.”

But there was more to Pundy than a sharp eye for agood investment. This man had an interest that even sur-prised his friend. In 1965, then Governor Burns appointedPundy to be the first Chairman of the Hawaii StateFoundation on Culture and the Arts. He served for 12years and then after a break of six years, served another 8

years under GovernorGeorge Ariyoshi. “I didn’tknow he had it in him,”Inouye remarked, think-ing back to his initialsurprise.

But Pundy hadtold Governor Burnsearlier in 1965 that hebelieved “art was educa-tion” and that it wasnecessary for those ingovernment and busi-ness to understand thevalue of art in oursociety. He points to thecreation of the “AspenInstitute for theHumanities in Coloradoas an example of corporateAmerica understanding

that something was missing from their most importantexecutives.” As I interviewed him, he spoke passionately

about the importance of art in our lives. “If you don’thave the arts you don’t really grow,” he said. “The arts havea way of reaching you that plain academics cannot.”

As a result of his leadership, Hawaii sets aside onepercent from its public construction appropriations topurchase art. This was the nations first Art-In-Public-Places law. It was to become a model that was lateradopted by 30 other states. Among the Foundation’s otherachievements is the rekindling of interest in Hawaiianculture and art and the integration of art into education.

It was late in the afternoon and the interview waswinding down. Senator Inouye was to leave for acampaign event and Pundy would be spending a quiet

evening at home. On my way home, I took a turn ontoVineyard Street and drove past where the old Yokouchibakery still stood, now run by another hardworking family.Senator Inouye’s quiet comment on the work he andPundy had accomplished together was still with me as thesun began to set, “ Yes, much has been accomplished—butwe’re not done yet, there’s still much more to do.” REMS

I want to thank these very busy gentlemen for grantingour interview. Also, thanks to their staff, Jennifer Goto-Sabasand Mary Lou Jardine from Senator Inouye’s office, andNorma Badoyen from Mr. Yokouchi’s, whose assistancemade it all possible.

This entire article evolved from the friendship betweentwo men. The strength of that friendship was exemplified inSeptember, when Pundy was presented the Mike LyonsAward for community involvement. Senator Inouye flewfrom Washington D.C. – minimum 8-hour flight – topersonally present the award to his longtime friend. Takingtime from his busy campaign schedule to honor Pundyimpressed me so much that I commented on it when I firstmet the Senator. His immediate response, “I would do itany day of the week”.

These are two men who have made an indelible mark,both on our island and the State of Hawaii, yet stillmaintain their essential aloha. From heads of state toconstruction workers, anyone who has the opportunity to“talk story” with Pundy Yokouchi or Dan Inouye, walksaway feeling they have met a friend.

Myrna Stone, Editor

Opposite Above Left: Senator Inouye stands with theDome of the U.S. Capitol over his shoulder. First elected tothe Senate in 1962, he was recently reelected to his 8th term.Opposite Above Right: Then Congressman Inouye greetsPresident Lyndon Johnson during the President's visit toHawaii in June of 1961. With them is his mother, KameInouye, who was orphaned as a child and raised by theReverend Doctor Daniel Kleinfelder, leading his mother tochoose the name "Daniel K." Inouye as the name for her son.Opposite Below: Senator Dan Inouye (right) and PundyYokouchi walk together at a gathering of the MauiEconomic Development Board. The group honoredYokouchi with it's Colin C. Cameron Award for his leader-ship in the development of the Maui High Tech Park at atime when many believed it was an impossible dream.Above: Senator Daniel K. Inouye shares a laugh with Masaru"Pundy" Yokouchi on the lanai of the Yokouchi home inWailuku over Pundy's comment that "He wasn't so good inschool." The Senator's reply, "No, he wasn't very good. Hejust lives in the house of the former plantation manager.

Reprinted from Jan, 2005 issue of Real Estate Maui Style727 Wainee St. # 104 • Lahaina , Hi, 96761Websites: LivingMaui.com & Maui-Style.com

Copyright 2005 • All rights reserved • Publisher: Leil Koch