The sleepy town of Kaimukī comes alive through the ink sketches of retired G-70 architect Hitoshi Hida.
He moved to Hawaiʻi with his family from Hiroshima, Japan, in 1961. The McKinley High School graduate went on to earn his architecture degree at the University of Hawaiʻi.
Hida is known for his hand-drawn architectural renderings and has been drawing views of Kaimukī since the 1970s.
“Kaimukī is a special place. I lived on the 12th Avenue. That was in 1976, but then we moved to a house near Kāhala, high enough that we could see ocean and also could see Kaimukī Hill. As I said in the book, it’s very quaint and unassuming, it’s very heartwarming town,” Hida told HPR.
His new book, “Sketches of Kaimuki,” is a collection of drawings spanning four decades. He captures the people and the architecture of a neighborhood near and dear to his heart. Each sketch includes a short vignette — a description in English and Japanese.
“I hear that some people, they look at the book and then they remember, bring back some memories and that make them feel kind of nostalgic to Kaimukī and I’m so happy that the book could do that emotionally,” Hida said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 2, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
“Sketches of Kaimuki” is available for purchase from fishcake in Kakaʻako and da Shop in Kaimukī.
His work will also be featured at the Downtown Art Center in “Hitoshi Hida: Retrospective” from May 3 through June 1. The opening reception is part of First Friday in Honolulu.
Hitoshi Hida’s son also released a short film in 2016 called “Im/Perfection” about Hida’s craft.
