[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]

KHON/ FOX
Host Lana'i supervises a round of Jan Ken Po on the
game show that airs on KHON. No dynamite is allowed.

Game tests how well
you know Hawaii

---

By John Berger
Star-Bulletin

James Bond played it with Tiger Tanaka in "You Only Live Twice," but most people in Hawaii know Jan Ken Po as a kid's game.

Paper, scissors, stone. Paper wraps stone. Stone breaks (or blunts) scissors. Scissors cuts paper.

The scissors are represented by two outstretched fingers. Stone is a fist. Paper is an open hand. Players simultaneously wave fists in the air for a set number of times. On the final downward stroke they "show" or "throw" one of the three objects. Ties -- when both show the same object -- don't count. Maybe it's one-round sudden death. Maybe it's best two-out-of-three wins.

JAN KEN PO Live tapings: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, June 24, July 22 Place: Windward Mall Center Stage Call: 235-1143 Television air dates: 6:30 p.m. Sundays, KHON/FOX

"It was a game all the kids played. We played it all the time," Carole Kai says.

"You can use it for resolving disputes even now. Who's gonna go first? Who gets to choose? This way you have three chances rather than flipping a coin."

Kai remembers kids trying to get an edge on each other by "watching hands" -- trying to be just slow enough for their opponent to commit to an object they could almost see, and then choose accordingly.

Kai and her friends used only the three traditional objects. Later generations of kids added others. One of the best known is "dynamite" (an extended index finger) which supposedly blows up the other three and makes the game pointless. If any one object is all-powerful, the process becomes an endless stalemate.

COVER STORY

That's why Kai and producer Dirk Fukushima allow only the original paper, scissors and stone as choices in their new television game show, "Jan Ken Po," hosted by 98.5 Island Rhythm morning guys Lana'i and Augie T.

Contestants Jan Ken Po to determine which team gets to choose a category and then answer questions about Hawaiian history, places, geography, science, people, food, sports or trivia. Players may have to identify the island with the largest freshwater lake, which of several islands has the largest mountain peak, or name the baseball player from Hawaii who had the longest career playing major league ball on the mainland.

The two teams also get a shot at "cockaroaching" each other's winnings.

The team with the most money at the end of the regular game goes up against a celebrity "Jan Ken Po Master" for a two-out-of-three round that can double their winnings.

"There's nothing in Hawaii going on now that talks about learning about Hawaii in a fun way," Kai says. "We are rewarding people for learning. The questions test their knowledge of Hawaii and give the people at home a chance to learn more about Hawaii too. We bring it down to a common denominator of childhood memories and then you have to answer a difficult question."

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