A yagura, or rice-bird sentry tower, was erected at the Haraguchi Rice Mill in Hanalei Valley last week, recreating a once-common scene from Hawai‘i’s bygone era of rice farming.
Some 30 people, including members of the Haraguchi ‘ohana who formerly grew rice in Hanalei Valley, joined in to help raise the tower. It was built by students in a timber-framing workshop sponsored by the Fox Maple School of Traditional Building as a community-service project.
The 18-foot-tall structure was made from locally harvested silver oak, guava, kamani and bamboo. The four posts of the frame were scribed to fit perfectly atop the rocks that served as the foundation. It was assembled without nails or glue, using joinery techniques, and nearly all the work was done with hand tools.
Yagura towers were once seen in rice fields all around the state prior to 1960. Typically, a child was stationed in the tower to watch for rice birds, (nutmeg mannikens) which foraged on ripening fields of grain. When the birds landed, the sentry pulled on one of the cords that ran from the tower into the fields. This caused the tin cans attached to the cords to rattle loudly, scaring away the birds.
The yagura will help tell the story of Hawai‘i’s rice industry, which spanned nearly a century and was second in value only to sugar. The mill, which has been fully restored and placed on the National Register of Historic Places, is virtually all that remains of that era. It is managed by a nonprofit organization, the Ho‘opulapula Haraguchi Rice Mill, which offers free mill tours to public and private students and community groups.
Board President Rodney Haraguchi, whose great-grandfather purchased the rice mill located in Hanalei Valley in 1924, dedicated the yagura to all those who labored in the rice fields growing food for the Chinese and Japanese who immigrated to Hawai‘i to work on the sugar plantations.
Haraguchi, who now raises taro in the family fields that once grew rice, told those assembled that just two nights before he had dreamed of receiving a letter from the late Sonny Ching, who had played in the mill as a child.
He said the dream evoked memories of Ching’s unstinting generosity, and made him even more grateful for the workshop students who donated a week’s labor to build the yagura, as well as all the others who have aided the rice mill.
“Give freely,” Haraguchi told the teary-eyed crowd. “I think that was the message in the dream. Just give freely.”
Among those giving freely were Tom Haraguchi, who manned a yagura as a child and built the tower model that inspired the project. He traveled from Honolulu, along with his sister and brother-in-law, Dick and Thelma Matsuo, for the week-long workshop.
The men helped build the structure while “Aunty” Thelma Matsuo spent her days at the computer, updating the organization’s mailing list. Their brother, William, who previously ran the family farm, also joined the work crew, and his wife, Janet, and cousin, Hanae, assisted with the food.
Rodney and Karol Haraguchi and their son, Whitney, donated significant time and materials to the project. Youth in the rice mill’s new nature club made lei, assisted by their coordinator, Ka‘imi Hermosura.
Steve Chappell, founder of the Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in Maine, donated the workshop to the rice mill as part of his ongoing efforts to make communities more self-sufficient and encourage the use of local building supplies and time-tested construction methods.
He was assisted by master craftsman Darin De Pasquale of Wainiha and workshop students Joe Miller, Stuart Morita, Mike and Colbert O’Brien, Jill and Kalab Elmore and Ray Lam.
The project was also aided by grants from the G.N. Wilcox Trust and Goodale Family Fund. Additional support was provided by Bill Cowern, Bill Chase, the W.T. Haraguchi Farm, Inc., Hanalei Taro and Juice Co., Les Gushiken, Kauai Coffee and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.
To make a contribution, volunteer, or learn more about the Haraguchi Rice Mill’s tours and programs, please call 651-3399 or write to PO Box 427, Hanalei, 96714.
Joan Conrow is a Kaua‘i-based freelance writer.
