FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM The Kane brothers -- Emmit, left, fire department spokesperson, and Micah, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands director -- visit in Micah's home in Kaneohe. They say people confuse them all the time.

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Resemblance is real

The Kane brothers share looks,
hobbies, exposure and praise

Brothers Emmit and Micah Kane look and sound alike, enjoy the same hobbies, and have the same zip code.

And when asked if people often confuse the two of them, they even share the same answer: "All the time."

"It happens in the stores, it happens everywhere," says Micah, state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands director.

"Oh yeah, it happens a lot," agrees Emmit, Honolulu Fire Department captain.

Emmit, 40, has received encouraging shouts of "good job on Hawaiian Homes," and "go get um Hawaiians," intended for his brother. Micah, 36, has accepted kudos from people complimenting all the hard work "you guys" are doing, only to realize they are referring to firefighters.

The brothers aren't bothered by the confusion, which started two years ago when Emmit started performing spokesman duties for HFD.

The public was already familiar with Micah after he became executive director of the Hawaii Republican Party in 1999, then chairman, then Linda Lingle's campaign chairman and now a member of the governor's Cabinet.

So when Emmit started appearing on television as HFD spokesman, "People think I'm moonlighting as a fireman," Micah said.

The brothers were close, growing up in Kailua, and share more than looks.

Emmit and Micah both went to Northern California colleges after graduating from Kamehameha School, worked on their MBAs at the University of Hawaii together, and have the same hobbies. They live less than a quarter-mile apart in Kaneohe, making it easy for the families to get together.

Micah said he and his brother have the same speech patterns, so they even sound the same.

Emmit describes Micah as passionate, while Micah says Emmit is the calmer of the two.

Micah says he always struggled in school, while academics came easy for Emmit. He says his older brother helped him pass the accounting and finance requirements of his MBA.

Emmit deflects his brother's praise.

"Like everything, we did together. So it was a group effort," Emmit said.