Maui land developer helped establish arts

WAILUKU » Masaru "Pundy" Yokouchi, a major figure in Maui real estate and the arts who helped build some of the Valley Island's best-known landmarks, died Thursday. He was 81.

Yokouchi started from humble beginnings working in his family's Wailuku bakery, and later become a successful real estate developer. He has owned several malls, including the Lahaina Square Shopping Center, and was influential in the building of the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei.

He died while on a flight with family members from San Francisco to Honolulu.

Yokouchi, the late Gov. John Burns' representative on Maui, was praised and sometimes scrutinized for putting together land ventures.

He was known for his network of Maui friends and acquaintances, a number of whom were contributors in his land investment huis while holding political office.

In the book "Land and Power in Hawaii," by George Cooper and Gavin Daws, Yokouchi stressed that while he happened to have friends who were in politics, the presence of political people in his Nukolii hui on Kauai had nothing to do with attempting to influence government land-use approvals.

He was the first board chairman of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, serving from about 1965 to 1978, and helped establish a program to acquire art for public buildings. His efforts led the foundation to buy authentic Hawaiian art and aid in establishing the Artist-in-the-Schools program.

Yokouchi was involved in the concept, design and fundraising for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, now a popular venue for many world-class entertainers and an arts education program with ties to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

"Pundy had the foresight to build a quality facility, something that is comparable to theaters anywhere," said Karen Fischer, president and chief executive officer of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Yokouchi also served as a director of the Maui Economic Development Board, a group that spearheaded the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei, home of a supercomputer.

Board President Jeanne Skog said Yokouchi had the leadership and vision to help diversify the economy on the Valley Isle.

"He's just one of a kind. Maui's definitely a better place because of him. We're going to be a different place without him. We're at least lucky to have his legacy to turn to and move on."

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said Yokouchi was a man for all seasons -- business leader, political confidant, philanthropist and patron of the arts. "Pundy's departure creates an almost irreplaceable void in Maui and Hawaii," Inouye said.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said Yokouchi's legacy had broadened the horizons of countless Hawaii residents and would continue for years to come. "He enriched our multicultural society by making it his life's mission to share the creative bounty of Hawaii's artists with the widest possible public."

Yokouchi was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii in 2003 and inducted into Junior Achievement's Hawaii Business Hall of Fame in 2005.

Interviewed in 2004, he fondly remembered his childhood and how he sometimes enjoyed taking the back road home from school by the Wailuku Sugar Co. manager's residence on a hillside overlooking the town. "I used to stop and admire the house," said Yokouchi.

He fulfilled his boyhood dream in 1991 when he bought the estate.