Day 360: Kamekichi and Mika Kotake Store Property, Honoka’a, Hawai’i

📌APIA Every Day (360) - Founded in 1930 by Japanese immigrants, the Kamekichi and Mika Kotake Store is located in the commercial district of Honoka‘a, on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. In a town populated largely by immigrant laborers, small independent businesses provided economic alternatives to working on sugar plantations. For the Kotake family, their store represented a path to financial freedom and reflected broader experiences of early Japanese American entrepreneurs in Hawai‘i.

Kamekichi Kotake immigrated to Hawai‘i in 1900 at age 25 and initially worked as a ditch laborer for the Honoka‘a Sugar Company. By 1910, he had married his wife Mika, a fellow immigrant who had arrived from Japan in 1907. In the 1920s, with Mika working as a retailer and Kamekichi as a carpenter, their combined savings allowed them to purchase the Kotake Store property in 1930. Mika became the business’s main proprietor while Kamekichi continued to work in carpentry. The store functioned as a general retail shop, offering canned food, medicine, clothing, and pastries. 

In later years,  Kamekichi retired from carpentry due to health issues and began assisting Mika full-time. He also crafted small furniture pieces—tables, stools, and drawers—for sale in the shop. Although their children helped with the store, the Kotakes emphasized education, encouraging their children to pursue professional careers in teaching, healthcare, and administration. Following Kamekichi’s passing in 1949, Mika transferred the store to their sons Mamoru and Jitsuo in 1953, retaining a half interest on the property. The store later closed in 1958, and the building was sold to Douglas and Janet Matsuda, who operated an electronics shop there through the 1970s. 

In 2020, the Kamekichi and Mika Kotake Store Property was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Though no longer operating as a retail store, the building still displays the original name “K. and M. Kotake” on its exterior facade and continues to house various small businesses today.

Written by Avneet Dhaliwal

LEARN MORE:

National Park Service: Kotake, Kamekichi and Mika, Store Property

Historic Hawaii Foundation: Kamekichi and Mika Kotake Store Property / Honoka’a

#apiaeveryday #japanese #japaneseamerican #kamekichiandmikakotakestoreproperty #hawaii #honokaa #honokaasugarcompany #kemkichikotake #japanesebusiness #nationalregisterofhistoricplaces