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Kin Chojin Kai

Notes by Mrs. Kameyo Ginoza:
(1) Each original Kin club had a unique feature. The Lahaina club helped to send ailing members back to Okinawa. The Kipapa club gave financial assistance to members who were pineapple growers. The Kahaluu club aided its members by investing in a large set of pots and dishes for use at wedding, birthday, or anniversary parties. Since families were unable to afford such extra household items in the past, such aid was meaningful and greatly appreciated by the members.
(2) According to issei members, sumo contests among villages were held before World War I. Kyuzo Nakata, representing Kin village, once took the championship. About 1918 the Kin people of Hawaii contributed to the building of the statue of Kyuzo Toyama in Kin-son, Okinawa. After World War II a second donation was made for a replacement because the original statue had been melted down during the war by the Japanese Army for use as scrap metal.
(3) In 1953 Kin Sonjinkai members helped Seiyei Wakukawa gather materials for his book Jidai no Senkusha: Toyama Kyuzo (The Life and Times of Kyuzo Toyama).
(4) The first Kin persons to earn graduate degrees were Dr. Thomas Ige, Professor of Economics, University of Hawaii, and Roy Nakada, an attorney who had resided in Okinawa.

Kin Town website (Okinawa): https://www.town.kin.okinawa.jp/