Pictured above: Makiki Christian Churchʻs Lower groundbreaking (L-R) Masayuki Tokioka, Rev. Paul Nagano, a contractor and Masuo Ogoshi.
Wayne Tadaki is the Coordinator at Theodore Ogoshi Archives at Makiki Christian Church. He writes a series of historical articles about Makiki Christian Church for the churchʻs newsletter.
“When my wife and I started coming to Makiki Christian Church in the mid 1980’s I remember seeing every Sunday in the foyer, a short, stocky, distinguished looking elderly man; always dressed neatly in pressed suit and tie. I did not know until decades later that this humble and unassuming gentleman was a man of great stature and significance in our community, and a pillar of virtue and servanthood in our church for over 50 years.”
The events of this story were compiled from a biography titled, “A Century of Trust, the Story of Masayuki Tokioka,” written by George Engebretson; and from several newspaper articles. These and much more can be found in the Makiki Christian Church Archives. You are welcomed to call us and arrange a visit.
A Research Trip to Hawaiʻi
Kazu Tokioka was worried. Her second child wasn’t due until the spring, yet this pregnancy was already much more difficult than the first. “This baby in my stomach,” she told her husband, Tozo, “will not behave!” What’s more, Kazu was leery of the medical facilities in their new home in Honolulu. “Without proper care, what might happen if I have complications with the birth,” she worried. When she, Tozo, and first-born son Bunji had sailed from Yokohama the year before, they hadn’t planned to call this little island home. Tozo had said it was only supposed to be a “research trip.” But before long, Tozo fell in love with this mid-ocean outpost, and in the swampy beach area called Waikiki he leased a small parcel of land from an old Hawaiian family and started a plant nursery. With a horse and carriage he peddled plants from his nursery to retailers, offices, and the fine old estates nearby.
Tozo and Kazu’s bright ten year-old son, Bunji, meanwhile, was enrolled at a good local grammar school. At this point the couple faced a difficult dilemma. Kazu longed to return to her parents’ home in Seto-machi, to deliver her second child, but with Tozo working long hours at the nursery, who would care for young Bunji in Kazu’s absence? The answer came from within Honolulu’s tight-knit Japanese community. “Why not go see Reverend Okumura in Nuʻuanu?” a neighbor suggested, “maybe he can help.”
The Okumura Boys and Girls Home
At age 32, Takie Okumura had been in Hawaii for three years, was the pastor of Nuʻuanu Congregational Church and already a well-respected leader in the Japanese community. He said he and his wife would be glad to help raise Bunji in Kazu’s absence. Within a few months the Okumuras were caring for three boys, and with that began a new branch of Reverend Okumura’s ministry, the Okumura Boys and Girls Home.
Masayuki with his mother, Kazu.
Raised in Setomachi, Japan
With young Bunji in capable hands, Kazu Tokioka was relieved and made the return voyage to Japan. Soon thereafter she delivered another feisty baby boy, Masayuki, on May 22, 1897. Now, with husband Tozo and first son Bunji both settled in the Hawaiian Islands, Kazu thought, “why not stay awhile longer.” Months turned into years and for the next 12 years Kazu raised Masayuki in the clean country air of Seto-machi, where her father had a ranching operation, and where Masayuki showed potential for being a very good student. It was around then that Kazu’s father advised her, “Remember, Japan is a small and insulated place. You must raise your son in a bigger, broader environment if you want him to be a good world citizen.” Kazu took her father’s advice, and after being in Japan for 12 years she made the decision to return to Hawaii and reunite with her husband and older son. Upon their return to Hawaii and seeing 12-year old Masayuki, Tozo was able to meet and hold his second son for the very first time.
A Return to the Islands
Hawaii in 1909 was a bustling, newly annexed U.S. Territory, and commerce was booming in Honolulu. Tozo’s nursery business was expanding, and 22-year old first son Bunji had left Okumura Home, completed studies at the University of Hawaii, and was working for Bishop Bank. Meanwhile, 12 year old Masayuki was faced with many tough challenges. He was enrolled in a Japanese school downtown that began at 7:30 am, and he would have to hustle to Kaʻahumanu School by 9:00 am for his English grammar and American education.
Since the schools were quite a distance from their home, his parents eventually approached their old friend Takie Okumura again and asked if Masayuki could now reside at the Okumura Dorm. Masayuki was accepted and thus began his life-long relationship with Rev. and Mrs. Okumura and Makiki Christian Church.
After Kaahumanu School, Masayuki enrolled at McKinley High School, which at that time had been open for only 10 years, and was considered a progressive educational institution. It not only taught subject content but also emphasized the learning of initiative, responsibility and problem-solving skills. Masayuki took to this approach to learning with much vigor and enthusiasm. When Masayuki enrolled at McKinley he was already 20 years old, but he nonetheless threw himself wholeheartedly into both his studies and extra-curricular activities. He ran on the track team, was admitted to the Honor Club, joined the McKinley Citizenship Club, and not only tried out for, but made, the varsity football team. At all of 112 lbs. he was tapped to be the team’s first team fullback! The letter he earned – the gold ‘M’ with the two black stars – remained one of his prized possessions throughout his life. The gutsy Masayuki also found the waters of Waikiki to his liking, and after learning to surf from some of the beachboys, could be found most weekends with Suyeki Okumura, the youngest of the Okumura kids, surfing the break at Waikiki Beach.
McKinley High School football team ⏤ Masayuki, standing in the back row, first from the right.
BACK: Katsu Okumura, Takie Okumura, Masayuki.
FRONT: Kazu, Chizu, Bunji and Tozo.
Life for Masayuki, though, was not all fun and play. In addition to his studies, he landed a part-time job at Pacific Bank while still in high school, handling various odd jobs around the bank and getting a glimpse of life beyond McKinley and a first view of the world of high finance. This opened Masayuki’s horizons to the rest of his young life.
After graduating in 1921, at age 24, one of the oldest seniors in the public school system, he matriculated to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. One young, articulate, dynamic economics professor, Gerald Kinnear, ignited Masayuki’s passion for economics, especially in the area of International Trade and Commerce. Professor Kinnear was a Harvard Business School graduate and impressed on the wide-eyed Masayuki that though it was very difficult to be accepted by Harvard, there was nothing like it in the country. This was just the kind of challenge Masayuki liked, and by the end of the summer of 1925, with a UH bachelors degree in hand, he was Harvard bound. Two years later, he received his MBA in International Commerce, and was told he was the very first Japanese to earn a graduate degree from Harvard Business School.
As the summer of 1927 drew near, Masayuki found himself gazing over the deck railing as his ship passed the Statue of Liberty on its way south along the Atlantic Coast. Masayuki’s ship was headed for Havana, then Los Angeles by way of the Panama Canal, and finally to its final destination, Honolulu Harbor. When Masayuki finally returned home he disembarked on Merchant Street, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, full of hope, dreams, and kansha, gratitude.
Upon his return to Hawaii, Masayuki’s business career took off like a rocket. Business ventures, startups, hands-on work, corporate suites – he was a non-stop “mover” and a persuasive “shaker” in the world of commerce in Hawaii for nearly 50 years. His business career included stints at International Trust Company, Newfair Dairy, National Mortgage and Finance, Island Insurance, International Savings and Loan, and Daiwa Securities. Most of these companies he either founded, directed, or managed; or did all three. Masayuki “officially” retired in 1977 at age 80, but he was just hitting his stride in other areas of his life.
Masayuki’s business career did not dictate or consume his life. At age 32 he was introduced to a college student, Harue Fujiyoshi, by Reverend Okumura. The Tokiokas and Fujiyoshis were both Christian families, and on Aug 29, 1929, Masayuki and Harue took their vows at Makiki Christian Church. They raised a daughter, Marjorie, and two sons, Lionel and Franklin, who all led very fruitful, productive and balanced lives here and on the mainland.
As successful and noteworthy as Masayuki’s business career was, his civic and spiritual involvement may have been even more impressive. Among his countless achievements, two particularly stand out. One was leading the drive to develop the San Francisco Japanese Cultural and Trade Center, serving as its first president upon its completion in 1968; the other was serving as a primary liaison in arranging Crown Prince Akihito’s two state visits to Hawaii in the 1950s. Topping all of his many community achievements, though, may have been Masayuki’s energetic contributions to, and immersion into, the life of Makiki Christian Church.
Family portrait circa 1945 (L-R) Lionel, Masayuki, Marjorie, Harue and Franklin.
Baptized by Reverend Okumura in 1913, and married by him in 1929, Masayuki was a young, vibrant MCC member and strong supporter of Reverend Okumura’s plans for building a brand new church tower and sanctuary. Thirty-four year old Masayuki (wife Harue was 24 at the time) approached Pastor Okumura one day and said, “I have $300 (approx. $5,000 in today’s dollars) in a Christmas savings account and I want to contribute all of it.” That gesture kick-started the MCC building fund drive that culminated in the construction of our beloved Makiki Christian Church Tower in 1932.
In the late 1950s our church was bursting at the seams with new Christians, many with families and young children. Masayuki volunteered then to co-chair, with Masuo Ogoshi, the fund raising campaign to build our much-needed Christian Education Building. In 1990, still spry and active at 93, he agreed to serve as Honorary Co-Chair of our $1 million Restoration and Preservation fund raising campaign. Loyal Masayuki Tokioka faithfully attended Makiki church well into his 90s. He died at his Kaimuki home on Aug. 2, 1998. He was 101 years old when he went home to be with his Lord after a lifetime of dedicated service to his Lord and to his beloved Makiki church family.
In 2004, Island Insurance Co., through its philanthropic foundation, set up The Excellence in School Leadership Award named in honor of Masayuki Tokioka. It is a $25,000 cash award presented annually to an outstanding Hawaii public school principal who displays vision, community-mindedness, and entrepreneurial spirit – qualities of leadership Mr. Tokioka so strongly embodied and represented. In 2018, the award went to Principal Corinne Yogi of Kipapa Elementary School.
Former MCC member and Okumura dorm resident, the late Frank Murakami once noted, “He (Masayuki Tokioka) still puts on his suit and comes to church every Sunday. And even though the parking lot is right near the rear entrance to the church, this man in his 90s still walks all the way around and enters through the front doors, out of tradition and respect.”
“This is the small but straight-postured, dignified yet humble man, dressed neatly in his pressed suit and tie, that my wife and I remember seeing every Sunday in the church foyer. We learned much later that this elder member of MCC, who stood barely 5 feet tall, was a giant dynamo of a man who played such a key role in the history of our community and our church. Arigatoo gozaimashita, Tokioka-san. Yours was a life well lived. Yoku dekimashita!”
