HANAPEPE — The Hanapepe Public Library and Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji welcome all to a free presentation, which is an expanded and revised version of a 2015 library program, “Songs from the Canefields: Verses that Tell A Story.”
Starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, the partnership will present “Hole Hole Bushi: Sugarcane ‘Blues’” in the Hanapepe Public Library on Kaumuali‘i Highway.
Jerry Hirata, president of the Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji, said the presentation will feature a singer, who is a member of Soto Zen Ondo Dancers, wearing a historical period costume.
A member of Taiko Kaua‘i will play the fue, or the traditional Japanese flute.
“This is like a preview of what we at the Kaua‘i Soto Zen will be featuring at our bon dance festival on June 16 and 17,” Hirata said.
Images courtesy of the Hawai‘i State Archives will be shared, and a video segment produced by the Center for Labor, Education and Research at West O‘ahu College and PBS-Hawai‘i will provide an overview of this unique genre of songs that developed in the sugarcane fields.
Original verses sung by Japanese plantation workers who immigrated to Hawai‘i during the period starting in 1885 and continuing through 1924 became known as hole hole bushi.” “Hole hole,” pronounced ho-lay, ho-lay, describes the sugarcane leaves, and bushi is a derivative of “fushi,” the Japanese term for “melody.” Lyrics set to familiar tunes from Japan were a raw reflection of the difficulties of the work in the plantation and home life of sugarcane field hands.
“The verses from these songs tell the story of the difficult work, the mean bosses, the hardships and the struggles,” Hirata said. “There was the lighter side of romance and love affairs, risque elements of sex and other vices. The songs have a plaintive melody like the blues. Some refer to it as the ‘Buddha-head blues,’ while others call it, ‘Painful songs.’ At Soto Zen, we call it the ‘Sugar Cane Blues’ because it is part of our plantation heritage.”
Mrs. Shizuka Kato, who emigrated from Hiroshima in 1905 to make her home on Kaua‘i as a picture bride, will be highlighted and honored during the program suitable for all audiences. Kato worked and sang in the canefields of McBryde Sugar Company, which stretched from ‘Ele‘ele to Koloa, for 47 years.
For more information, call Hirata at 808-346-4650, or Mindy Gipson at the Hanapepe Public Library at 808-335-8418.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
