Lee A. Tonouchi
Lee A. Tonouchi, Okinawan Yonsei, stay known as “Da Pidgin Guerrilla” for his activism in campaigning for Pidgin a.k.a. Hawai‘i Creole for be accepted as one legitimate language. Tonouchi stay da recipient of da 2023 American Association for Applied Linguistics Distinguished Public Service Award for his work in raising public awareness of important language-related issues and promoting linguistic social justice.
His Pidgin poetry collection Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son: One Hawai‘i Okinawan Journal won da Association for Asian-American Studies Book Award. His Pidgin children’s picture book Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos won one Skipping Stones Honor Award. And his latest book stay Chiburu: Anthology of Hawai‘i Okinawan Literature.
Updated September 2023
Stories from This Author
Wea You Stay! Laurel Nakanishi on da importance of da poetry of place
March 29, 2024 • Lee A. Tonouchi
Waimea Valley IV We enter the valley silently, without shaking the branches. We enter without startling. Alae ‘ula watches us from the estuary remembering the pitch nights when the fire lived only in her. We followed the pig trails listening for the rustle grunt of Kamapua‘a. In the quiet, our thoughts are small gods. They fly above the earth. —Poem from Laurel Nakanishi's collection Ashore As I stay da outgoing Tony Quagliano poetry award champion, da Hawai‘i Council for the …
Big in Hawai‘i—Artist Kris Goto shares how she levels up
Feb. 29, 2024 • Lee A. Tonouchi
She nevah really thought about ‘em, but artist Kris Goto, 36, she been living in Hawai‘i half her life now. She wuz born in Kagoshima, Japan, den she wen live in New Zealand and Hong Kong before she wen finally settle down in Hawai‘i in 2006. She been featured in art exhibits in Japan, in California, and at various galleries all ova Hawai‘i. In recent years mo and mo of her murals have been popping up and mo and mo …
Why You Should Talk to Strangers—Crafting celebrity Joy Shimabukuro says chance ‘em
Feb. 6, 2024 • Lee A. Tonouchi
Local people in Hawai‘i might not know her last name, but mostly everybody recognizes her face and her first name that has become synonymous with crafting. When dey see her in public dey go up to her and tell, “Eh, you Joy...Of Crafting, yeah?” First name—Joy. Last name—Of Crafting. Lol. About for film her 483rd episode, Joy Shimabukuro’s television show Joy of Crafting has been running continuously in Hawai‘i since 2002. Painfully shy as one kid, Joy nevah imagined she …
“Da Okinawan Hammah” stay nailing it!—Brandon Ufugusuku Ing’s projects promote Okinawan language
Jan. 4, 2024 • Lee A. Tonouchi
“Da Okinawan Hammah” get one skill that not too many people get. Uchinaaguchi, da Okinawan language stay dying out and Hawai‘i-born yonsei Brandon Ufugusuku Ing stay doing everything in his powah for try help save ‘em. Whether it’s teaching Uchinaaguchi classes on Zoom, creating eju-ma-cational animated Uchinaaguchi music videos for childrens, making avant-garde Uchinaaguchi movies for film festivals, or just rocking out to his own original Uchinaaguchi songs, Braddah Brandon, one Castle High School 2001 grad, does it all in …
Kenny Kusaka’s Calling—How he chose stand-up comedy as his service
Dec. 5, 2023 • Lee A. Tonouchi
Leilehua class of 2013 grad, Kenny Kusaka wuz getting lotta leading roles in da Local theatre scene in Hawai‘i when he decided for switch gears and try his hand at stand-up comedy. For da past several years he been making one name for himself on top da stand-up circuit, refining his act all across da country. I caught up with him recently aftah his first time headlining his own show at The Blue Note, da Hawai‘i branch of da celebrated …
Artist Audra Furuichi Meets Her Match—How she created her nemu*nemu comic empire
Nov. 15, 2023 • Lee A. Tonouchi
Illustrator Audra Furuichi stay most well known for her web comic nemu*nemu dat she launched in 2006 with her partner Scott Yoshinaga. Da ting wuz one immediate hit. If you dunno, dis quirky strip stay about da misadventures of Nemu and Anpan, two magical stuff animal kine canines and their human beings, Kana and Anise. Those characters wen spawn one whole line of popular merchandise, like books, shirts, stickers, and of course stuffed pups. * * * * * What …
In it for da Long Haul: Grant Kagimoto Shares da Secret to Cane Haul Road's Longevity
Oct. 11, 2023 • Lee A. Tonouchi
Grant Kagimoto stay da creative genius behind Hawai‘i’s iconic T-shirt brand, Cane Haul Road. For almost 50 years he been coming up with clever graphic designs that comment on Hawai‘i’s unique Local culture. Sometimes he get designs das humorous like his Chinese cabbage design with da caption “won bok not much nowdays.” And oddah times his designs might be pure Hawai‘i nostalgia like his rendering of one big-wheel, hand-crank shave ice machine that takes da viewer back to one time …
Hajichi Stories — Tree Local Women Tell Why Day Got Their Okinawan Hand Tattoos
Sept. 7, 2023 • Lee A. Tonouchi
My great grandma who wuz born in Okinawa in 1885 had traditional Okinawan hand tattoos known as hajichi. Esteemed Okinawan cultural expert, Eric Wada of da eju-ma-cational group Ukwanshin Kabudan wen do field research on what motivated Okinawan women for get their hajichi. Wada Shinshï (teacher) shares “hajichi was around and in use from pre-contact times so there is no written documentation of exactly when and how it started, however through oral and documented information, it evolved into a woman’s right of passage to …
