On the Scene with Roy Sakuma

Roy Sakuma discovered his days as a Roosevelt High School student were over when the principal told him, “One of us has to go, and it’s not me.” Getting kicked out of school gave Sakuma plenty of time to pursue his life’s goal of becoming the world’s best ukulele player, but practicing eight to 10 hours a day wasn’t earning him any money. Several entry-level jobs later Sakuma was working a groundskeeper at Kapiolani Park when he came up with the idea of presenting an ukulele festival.

Sakuma took the idea to the city. With the support of Moroni Medeiros, culture and arts coordinator with the city Department of Parks and Recreation, Sakuma presented the 1st Annual Ukulele Festival at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand in 1971. The festival turned out to be the first of 50.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the all-day 50th Annual Ukulele Festival Hawaii planned for this year, so Sakuma, 73, is presenting it as a one-hour television special,“The 50th Anniversary of Ukulele Festival Hawaii: Connecting the World on the Strings of the Ukulele,” at 6 p.m. July 19 on KHNL. It will also be livestreamed on Facebook and re-air at 7 p.m. July 21 on K5.

When you went to the city that first time, were you thinking about doing a second event?

Deep down in my heart I must have believed it was going to be continued because I called it the 1st Annual Ukulele Festival. I’m very thankful that it has, but it’s hard to imagine that 50 years have gone by. They flew by so quickly.

Congratulations on finding a way to save this year’s festival.

I have to thank our staff, especially my wife, Kathy, and our niece, Wendy Yoshioka, who have been working so diligently on this. My wife has been the backbone in putting this whole event together — everybody knows that. She is the rock. When we canceled the (physical) festival it occurred to me that we could do a special where the entire world could join in. Kathy and Wendy thought it was a great idea, and we talked to HawaiiNewsNow, and they’re capturing the highlights of all these past 50 years.

Looking back over 50 years, are there a couple of super-unforgettable performances?

A performer named Sioni. During his performance he’s rolling on the ground and he’s still playing. He takes off his shoe and he strums the ukulele with his feet, and then he stands up and he rolls a tremolo roll super-fast — with his teeth! And then in 2007 Jack Johnson came, but he’d asked me to keep it a surprise so we kept it a secret. As soon as he started singing people from across the street came running. He continues to help us a little every single year.

What’s next?

We’re planning to reopen the studios with social distancing. And we have some young blood that’s really interested in getting involved to carry the torch (of producing the festival) from here — and that’s great. I want to enjoy (life) and teach and be with the students, and still visit schools and talk with kids in schools. Teachers from Roosevelt and other schools have said that things I said when I talk to students (about my experiences) touched their lives. My passion is to visit places where people need emotional support and share with them how I’ve been able to get through my struggles in life. “Love is the key that opens the door to healing.” I’m writing a book on this.

Did you ever hear from the principal after you turned your life around?

Not yet.