MOILIILI CEMETERY ASSOCIATION: OUR STORY – The Moiliili Cemetery Association is comprised of a group of community volunteers who have turned out to restore our historic Moiliili Japanese Cemetery which had been declining during recent decades. It was initiated in the mid-2000s when Laura Ruby and Harriet Natsuyama began to photograph and collect gravesite data and coordinate volunteers to help beautify the cemetery.

LAURA RUBY AND HARRIET NATSUYAMA

Laura Ruby is the editor of the acclaimed book, Moiliili, the Life of a Community, 2005. She remains an active member of Mo’ili’ili as well as the wider Honolulu and Hawaii State communities.

Harriet Natsuyama was born and raised in Mo’ili’ili where her grandfather, Sentaro Otsubo, an Issei from Fukuoka, operated his monument business during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Because a monument-maker and stone-carver like her grandfather never signed his works, she examined the monuments in the cemetery and made a collection of his works.

Laura and Harriet met while the Mo’ili’ili book was in preparation. Laura was teaching honors courses at the University of Hawai’i Manoa, and Harriet participated in some of them. When Laura taught the Honors 291S course, the students undertook the task of recording the monuments by photographing and writing down the names and dates. This formed the original source of the monument database, which has since been updated many times. Thus, you will find on this website the database and the maps, which you can use to find the monument of the person you are looking for.

BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT

In 2012, Laura and Harriet submitted a proposal for cemetery beautification to the Awesome Foundation of Honolulu and succeeded in being awarded a grant of $1,000. This was the beginning of the beautification project. Moiliili Hongwanji Mission generously donated a check. Soon, people were contributing checks — even some who were newcomers to Moiliili and had no relatives buried here. The checks were deposited in the bank and used to purchase supplies needed for the renewal, such as more bluestones and wall-building materials. We are so grateful for the original Beautification Volunteers for all their hard work, and we greatly appreciate the individual Beautification Donors. Many more volunteers and donors have joined us over the years, and we wish we could list all of your names. Please be assured that your names are in our records and greatly appreciated.

OBON CEREMONY TO HONOR ANCESTORS

It took many months simply to clear away the rubble and trash. After that, the wall could be re-built and plants brought in to create oases of shade and flowers. After two years, we held our first Obon ceremony to honor ancestors in the cemetery. And each year in July, we observe this event to welcome our ancestors to their final resting place. Volunteers, donors, families of the deceased, and other members of the community gather for prayers, remembrance, gratitude, and Obon dancing.

GOING NONPROFIT

After a number of years, we active members of the beautification project decided to seek official nonprofit status so that our donors could benefit from tax deductions. We hired attorney Brian I. Ezuka who specializes in nonprofit law. We received our 501(c)(3) EIN  99-3446870 on June 10, 2024. The founding members of the Board of Directors of MCA are Laura Ruby, President; Harriet Natsuyama, Vice-President, Kathleen Shimabuku, Treasurer; Lynn Nakata, Secretary; and Ann Nakata.