KINJI KANAZAWA / 1916-2003
Attorney helped
save Moiliili Center
Kinji Kanazawa, credited with saving the Moiliili Community Center from government confiscation during World War II, died Oct. 8 at age 86.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government confiscated much of Japanese-owned property, and Kanazawa sought to save the land beneath the Moiliili Japanese Language School. He persuaded prominent Caucasians to sit on the Moiliili Community Association's board of directors.
COURTESY PHOTO
Kinji Kanazawa
After the war, they resigned to allow the Japanese founders of the school, including Kanazawa's father, to resume their positions.
"He saved the entire Moiliili Community Center, yet he was a very low-key person," said Charles Harada, 83, who grew up with Kanazawa. "He did so much for the community. He's a dedicated person."
On Nov. 7, 1916, Kanazawa and his identical twin, Kanemi, were the last of seven children born to Sakijiro and Haru Kanazawa. He graduated from McKinley High School, the University of Hawaii and Boston College Law School. He worked as an attorney, Realtor, developer, chemist, stevedore and beekeeper.
His son, Sidney, also a lawyer, said his father would say, "You can't make money practicing law."
But it was how he practiced law that couldn't make money, his son said. Kanazawa donated his services to Buddhist temples for 50 years and helped many people who asked, he said.
Tadayuki Ishizaki, 83, a trustee of the Moiliili Center and friend, recalls Kanazawa used his legal and real estate knowledge to help his neighbors. "I think he was good because (he did things) the old-fashioned way of doing things, we help each other whenever somebody's in trouble. He was there to help people," he said.
Harada also remembers Kanazawa as a "great philosopher." Sidney Kanazawa said it may have been his father's brush with death that caused him to ponder and share his Buddhist-based philosophies.
"He would say, 'Try your best and do it with a good heart,'" he said.
Kanazawa contracted tuberculosis in 1942. "I think he appreciated life a lot, and every day was a gift," his son said.
Kanazawa was also committed to preserving the legacy of Japanese culture. He was a founding organizer of the Moiliili Community Center in 1942 and chaired the board of trustees until his death.
At the 100th anniversary of the center's language school in December, Kanazawa said: "What I envisioned in those days was for the center to be the 'great leveler.' It was a place where everyone could come together and could experience being equal.
"We should appreciate each other's unique background without losing our basic culture, a tossed salad rather than a mixing pot."
Kanazawa is also survived by wife Shimeji, daughter Joni and two grandchildren.
Services will be held 5 p.m. Saturday at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin. Call after 4 p.m.
