About Me

My great grandparents came to Hawaii from Japan. They were fishermen and plantation workers. I was raised in Moanalua Valley--the trail at the back of the valley was like my own back yard. I spent seven years away from Hawai'i getting edumacated. Spent a lot of that time just thinking about coming home (which excessive listening to Olomana and Kalapana albums will make you do). The thing I've done the longest is work with youth: my first job out of college was directing youth programs for the YMCA of Honolulu. I then had a string of one- or two-year-long career changes (inevitably, this included stints with state government and with HMSA). More recently, I started the nonprofit College Connections Hawai'i and I also started (with James Koshiba) 3Point, a public-interest consulting company. I was a member of the initial staff of Kanu Hawaii and now I'm working on the campaign to elect Neil Abercrombie as the next Governor of Hawaii.

Why I Love Hawaii

The first week in my college dorm in California, a bunch of us ordered pizza. When it came, the guys divided it up in proportion to how much we each paid. I love Hawaii because we just eat (and never grab the last piece).

Interests

Being a dad, family time, friends time, football (armchair QB), home improvement, carpentry, fishing (haven't gone in too long a time), all movies, all music, science, politics, playing guitar, hanging out with nothing fo' do.