William K. Yamanaka, Ph.D. (born in 1931), the author of “Kipu-Huleia, The Social History of a Plantation Community” and “Huleia, the Journey Home,” was born and raised at Kipu Sugar Plantation’s (1907-40) Rice Camp and was educated early on at Huleia Grammar School.
William K. Yamanaka, Ph.D. (born in 1931), the author of “Kipu-Huleia, The Social History of a Plantation Community” and “Huleia, the Journey Home,” was born and raised at Kipu Sugar Plantation’s (1907-40) Rice Camp and was educated early on at Huleia Grammar School.
His book “Huleia, the Journey Home” includes a ghost story titled “Ghost at Turning Point.”
Turning Point is situated on Kipu Ranch at about the midpoint of Pine Tree Road, which stretches for about a half a mile through the ranch and is lined on both sides with Cook Island pine trees planted circa 1913-14 by Kipu Sugar Plantation and Kipu Ranch owner Charles Rice (1876-1964).
In “Ghost at Turning Point,” Yamanaka wrote: “Turning Point was a scary place at night in the 1930s.
“Many residents of Kipu had the misfortune of having to walk alone, late at night, through Pine Tree Road.
“It was the favorite haunt of numerous ghosts who stalked the unwary and lonely traveler. The ghosts seen were various human forms, sometimes animal forms and sometimes as apparitions of an old lady floating overhead between the tops of the rows of trees.”
Yamanaka’s father, Kiichijiro Yamanaka, a stone mason who supervised the construction of the Rice Monument on Kipu Road in 1925, told Yamanaka his story of a ghost he’d seen on Pine Tree Road.
Yamanaka wrote: “At midnight on March 19, 1937, Yamanaka-san (Yamanaka’s father) saw the ghost “Felix” and his dog. Thinking it was his friend Felix, Yamanaka-san called “Felix, Felix,” and ran to join him to walk home together. As he approached “Felix,” the ghost vanished in thin air.
“Thinking his friend was playing tricks with him, he started walking home again. All of a sudden, someone pulled his hair from the back. He turned and saw “Felix” and tried to grab him. Again, “Felix” vanished. Perplexed and trying to reason things out, he sat down, rolled a cigarette, smoked, and waited for something to happen. When he finished smoking and nothing more happened, he got up and continued home.”
Ghosts no longer haunt Turning Point.
