The Story behind Kenji's House: Recycling the Yokoyama Homestead

The story behind the Kenji's House you see today

Kenji Yokoyama lived his whole life in Kapa'au, Hawai'i. His was the big green house with the red roof and the colorful fishing floats suspended in front of a neat garden shed, with bright yellow day lilies and a garden of anthuriums in the front. Old fishing nets and hapu'u tree ferns as well as the carefully tended gardens spoke of his interests. Few really knew the quiet man, though, or his art.

Several years before his death in 2004, the rustic charm of his house caught the eye of local artist Catherine Morgan. It captured her attention and imagination, and inspired several paintings of the place. After his death she noticed dumpsters outside the house and asked whether she could have the contents. "I thought I'd lost my mind. I picked up a lot of rocks, and I don't know what they meant, but they looked important to me. My primary intention was to hang onto the artwork and shell collection."

The rocks have holes in them, where Kenji placed tiny handwritten notes describing where and when he found them. It is speculated that the rocks were variously used by earlier inhabitants of Kohala as tools, anchors, or poi pounders.

Catherine Morgan contacted the new owner of the building, Angela Wolfenberger, and asked about plans for its future. She had a vision for the homestead: to create a personal museum to preserve Kenji's treasures and to educate the community and visitors about the "real Kohala." She founded the North Kohala Artists' Co-operative and turned the two rooms on the upper floor into a gallery for the local artists' work. On the street level, it just seemed like a good idea to have a "sugar shack" and serve up some local food and drink. Rosaline Maxx and her husband Robbie converted the humble tool shed into a state-of-the art tropical food stand.

Kenji Yokoyama was a collector and a researcher, and a creator of artistic assemblages of rocks and shells. He was also a person who recycled everything and used whatever he found to create his art.

Of Kenji, Catherine Morgan says, "I think he loved working with the material, the process, and the mentality of reusing everything. This represents a man in his time. He had to fix everything again and again. His well worn and mended rakes and tools, on display in the museum and on the grounds, are testimony to that! He shared everything, even though he didn't have very much. He's still sharing his recycling ethic and generous spirit with us."

It is indeed a fitting tribute to the man that his family homestead has been recycled into a place to hold his art, as well as the art of local artists. His relatives on the island of O'ahu said he would "be delighted" to see how his artwork and life are now telling the story of Kohala.

The vision of making the whole homestead into a welcoming place where people could come and relax and learn more about the community and its plantation-era past has been realized through Catherine Morgan's vision, Angela Wolfenberger's cooperation, and the energetic assistanceof Malia Welch and Rosaline Maxx.

Kenji's House now is home to a personal museum about Kenji and his life, an art gallery for a local artists' cooperative, and a bistro—creative and artistic recycling for body & soul!