basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 29 Dec 2004 5:00 am |
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I Found this:-
Katsugoro Haida was born in the village of Niho Maru, Hiroshima, Japan, in 1865. Because medical care was not available in his village and he attributed his father's death to this lack, he determined to become a physician. To this end he became apprenticed to a Dr. Usui with whom he studied for a number of years before coming to Hawaii.
In 1885 he arrived in Hawaii as a contract laborer, settling on Paia Plantation on Maui. Later he moved to Honolulu where he was employed by the Thomas J. King family and utilized his spare time to study English.
Leaving the Islands, Katsugoro went to San Francisco where, after many difficulties, he was able to enter Cooper Union Medical College. He worked his way through medical school and graduated in 1896.
In 1900 Dr. Haida returned to Honolulu and began his practice on King Street. When the Central Japanese Society was formed in 1903 to improve working conditions among the Japanese and to try and iron out differences between plantations and employees, the doctor was a member of the 10-man executive committee. In 1905 the Japanese language newspaper, "Hawaii Shinpo Sha", sponsored a popularity contest for men in various categories, and Dr. Haida placed third in the field of medicine. He was also an active member of the Buddhist faith, serving as the president of the Young Men's Buddhist Association.
Dr. Haida was married in Japan in 1903. His wife's name was Chizuko, and they were parents of five children: Shigekatsu, Haruhiko, Katsuhiko, Tsuyoko, and Yukiko.
Shortly after returning from a trip to Japan, Dr. Haida died on February 9, 1920, at Japanese Hospital, Honolulu, at the age of 56.
As one of the organizers of the Japanese Hospital, he worked towards its improvement and served as its superintendent for a number of years. In October, 1918, he was presented with a gold medal by the Japanese Charity Association for his years of faithful service to the hospital. He was also a member of the Japanese Medical Society, serving as president in 1908, and belonged to the Medical Society of Hawaii.
Mr. Haruhiko Haida (later changed the name to Yukihiko Haida) has been recognized for his great service in introducing Hawaiian Music to Japan, together with his younger brother Katsuhiko Haida. He had his own band "Moana Glee Club" where he himself had played the steel guitar as a band leader. At the same time, he taught the pros as well as the amateurs how to play the steel guitars and the ukulele. He had founded the NUA(Nihon Ukulele Association) with the view of promoting the ukulele which is one of the easiest musical instruments for the amateurs to play.
Composer, steel guitarist, bandleader. Born: Honolulu, April 24th, 1909. Parents: Chizuko and Katsugoro. Married:Yoshie, October 26th,1934. Children: son and daughters. Education: Keio University Preparatory Course(1933). Raised in Honolulu until age 13: returned to Japan.
If Japan has a "Father of Hawaiian Music", the title belongs to Yukihiko Haida. He pioneered in the field of Hawaiian Music as a steel guitarist, teacher, bandleader, composer and promoter, and his influence has been felt by nearly all Japanese-Hawaiian music artists and aficionados.
Haida was born and raised in Hawai'i, but he returned at a young age to Japan when his father died. Thus, unlike his contemporaries, with the exception of Buckie Shirakata, he had firsthand knowledge of Hawaiian Music. Undoubtedly, it was an important advantage in his musical career. He started as a steel guitar player ---indeed, Japan's first. He was also the first man in Japan to play the National acoustic guitar(at a concert of the Moana Glee Club in 1931). Although largely self-taught, he went back to Hawai'i in 1933 and studied further with the steel guitarist M. K. Moke.
While in Hawai'i, Haida met Buckie Shirakata and was instrumental in persuading the young Nisei(second-generation Japanese) steel guitarist to try his luck in Japan. After a year, part of which time he spent at the University of Hawaii, he returned to Tokyo and brought with him Jerry Kurisu, a guitarist, to supplement his Moana Glee Club and to instruct young Japanese guitar players.
In 1935, he signed a contract with Victor Company of Japan and began recording. In a short time, he became a best-known steel guitar recording artist in the country, a reputation he still has today among many Japanese steel guitar fans. The Moana Glee Club, which he had organized in 1929, remained the principal showcase for Hawaiian music in Japan for many years. After its dissolution, he set up the New Moana(1945), which became one of the top group in the country. Teaming up with his brother, Katsuhiko, he produced some of the most acclaimed performances and recordings ever made in Japan.
While Haida has excelled as an instrumentalist and orchestra leader, he has probably achieved his best in the field of composition. Ha has written some 600 songs, both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian. Some of his Hawaiian tunes include "Roselani", "Aloha Honolulu" and "Little Stars in Hula Heaven"(Victor STX-10162); "My Hawaiian Serenade"(Victor SJX-8515); and "Aloha Tokyo"(Victor LV-77). At age 67, he is still actively employed as a composer
Basil Henriques
I've e-mailed pics to you
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