A landscaper, a preservationist, a lifelong educator and an advocate for peace were recently honored as the latest Living Treasures of Hawaii by Honpa Hongwanji Mission.
The four individuals, Frederick Nonaka, Peter Young, Fred Cachola Jr. and Hiromi Peterson, respectively, were recognized Feb. 11 at Honpa Hongwanji’s 48th annual Living Treasures of Hawaii gala luncheon.
The Living Treasures program was created by the late Bishop Yoshiaki Fujitani in 1976 at the suggestion of the late Paul Yamanaka in an effort to honor those who have significantly enriched the community through their personal and professional achievements.
Fred Cachola Jr.
Cachola was an aina-based education practitioner before the method was widely adopted. He began his career as a seventh grade history teacher at Waianae Intermediate School, introducing students to Hawaiian culture and studies. Cachola designed the first program in the state to acclimate teachers to local culture and, in particular, Oahu’s West Side, according to a news release. Cachola also served as vice principal for the Nanakuli Schools Complex and the principal of Nanaikapono Elementary School before heading Kamehameha School’s Extension Education Division for 25 years until his retirement.
His upbringing on a Kohala sugar plantation set the foundation for his advocacy for Native Hawaiian culture and historic preservation. He was also an early leader of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, and has supported community organizations that help children, seniors and conservation efforts and promote Native Hawaiian businesses, cultural research and understanding, the release said.
Frederick Nonaka
An avid community volunteer and highly regarded landscape contractor, Nonaka is owner of Fred’s Nursery in Waimea on Hawaii island and a master rock setter and plant pruner who willingly shares his skills and knowledge, according to the release.
Active in Hawaii’s Buddhist community, Nonaka served as president of Kamuela Hongwanji Mission and was the first neighbor island member to become president of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, a position he held for 10 years. He also co-founded Pacific Buddhist Academy in Honolulu.
Nonaka is one of the original Lions Club members who developed Cherry Blossom Park at Church Row in Waimea and continues to help maintain the trees there.
Hiromi Peterson
Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Peterson is hibaku nisei, a child of survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing during World War II. After realizing the lack of Japanese-language teaching materials for high school students, Peterson led a group of colleagues in publishing what is now the most widely used secondary- level Japanese-language textbook in the nation, the release said. The fourth volume of “Adventures in Japanese” contains her family’s war experience and an emphasis on peace education.
Royalties from the textbook were donated to endow the Hiroshima Peace Scholarship, which supports travel of two students and a teacher to Hiroshima. Peterson is now beginning a similar program for Hiroshima students to come to Hawaii to learn about local World War II experiences.
Peterson was a Japanese- language teacher at Punahou School for more than 30 years before her recent retirement.
Peter Young
An advocate for environmental preservation and sustainability, Young has helped spread awareness of Hawaii’s natural environment and cultural history. During his stint as chair of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were given an appropriate Hawaiian place-name, Papahanaumokuakea, according to the news release.
He prepared the Wao Kele O Puna Comprehensive Management Plan covering the largest landholding of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, receiving an award for the effort from the American Planning Association- Hawaii Chapter. Young also helped prepare the master plan update and comprehensive management plan update for University of Hawaii lands on Mauna Kea, and assisted historic Mokuaikaua Church in Kona in obtaining county building permits.
Because last year’s Living Treasure gala was canceled, this year’s luncheon also recognized the 2022 honorees: taiko drum master Kenny Endo; noted archaeologist and University of Hawaii faculty member Patrick Kirch; and award- winning kumu hula, recording artist and cultural practitioner Keali‘i Reichel.
To learn more about the Living Treasures of Hawaii, visit hongwanjihawaii.com.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
