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Hawaii's Plantation Village
- Hours:
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
4 reviews for Hawaii's Plantation Village
I visited here in 2002 during college during a progam with UCLA and University of Hawai'i. Our class made a stop here and it was one of the most educational experiences I've had, in regards to Asian American History and Hawaiian History, and American History.
Here you see the living conditions for the different types of ethnic groups --the Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Portugese/Hawaiians. You see the poor living conditions and how each group struggled to be at home in a foreign land. It was interesting to see housing grounds for each group, transparent in the temples, homes. Its amazing how close these houses were together.
Its sad, but yet beautiful in a way...knowing how the groups struggled and worked together under harsh conditions. Its definitely worth a visit when visiting Hawaii. Theres no point in coming without an understanding and appreciation for the history which you will get visiting Plantation Village.
Unfortunately, I wasnt able to visit when i was here recently, but I was reminded of my experience Plantation Village when I dug up some scattered reciepts and an oregano leaf that was given to me by my tour guide here... :)
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This place was authentic, informative, and interesting. I can't add much more to what the other yelpers said. They covered the bases well.
More people should go here. It'll be a very sad day indeed if this place were to shut its doors due to lack of funding and interest.
The tour guides that work here are wonderful people and part of the history itself.
Part of what made the tour great was the intimacy with the guide. But of course it's not good for them to get so little money coming in. Catch 22. The Hawaii Tourist Board or whatever they are called should be marketing this place better. It's far more real than that mormon run Polynesian Cultural Center crap, nor is it a tourist trap like Dole Plantation.
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I don't think anybody really knows about this place! It's tucked away in some area of Waipahu, a place where only locals go to. But whether you're local or a tourist who wants to know more about Hawaii rather than the sun and the beach, you should check this place out. Parking is free.
I went on a Saturday noon and it was literally empty. The only guests were the two of us. We paid the Kama'aina price of $7 each. Generally it is $13. Just a note, they do not allow a non-Kama'aina guest to pay Kama'aina price like many other tourist places allow (eg. Honolulu Zoo, Sea Life Park, etc.). You can only look around this place through a tour. They only conduct tours at the top of every hour from 10am to 2pm, so you arrive there early. They'll show you a general overview of plantation live through a short video and the tour guide will show us around.
The tour can be in English or Japanese. We took the Japanese tour. The tour guide we had, Ken, was a local bilingual Japanese guy from here of seniority age. Since it was only the two of us, we pretty much had like a personal tour. He showed us around this little museum they had and then led us through each of the houses in the Plantation Village.
The whole tour lasted two-hours! It was a lot longer than I had expected and it's somewhat understandable why the last tour would be at 2pm. Ken went into details about everything and even included bits and pieces about his personal history, as his grandfather was one of those immigrants and part of this history. It was very interesting and makes me appreciate Hawaii even more. For Ken to talk for two whole hours to only the both of us for a measly $14 without displaying any lack of enthusiasm really shows that he genuinely wants to show and teach a part of Hawaii's past to people, rather than about the money.
Definitely a place to check out. I've visited this place once when I was in Elementary school, but back then I was not able to appreciate your home's culture and history as much as when you're grown up.
There will be a bit of walking outside and it's recommended that mosquito repellent and maybe sunscreen is put on.
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No matter if you grew up in Hawaii or what your age may be, I recommend Hawaii's Plantation Village. I took my mom and my aunty there last week and we all really enjoyed it. The entrance fee for Kama'aina and Military is only $7.
You get to understand and experience plantation life via a 20-minute video and a guided tour through the small, but packed museum and then through the "village." The village consists of replicas of houses of the various ethnic groups that were brought over to work in the plantation.
A typical plantation would separate camps by ethnicity in order to help control the immigrants (so they would not join together and start an uprising . . . hello, Unionization). So, all the Japanese were in a separate camp from the Portuguese, who were separate from the Okinawans, who were in a different camp than the Puerto Ricans.
The homes were decorated with real tools, furniture and photographs; and interspersed with other buildings like the Social Hall, the Infirmary and the Plantation Store. There was even a Sumo Ring, the community furo (bath), a tofuya (where they made tofu) and a Portuguese outdoor oven (mmm...sweet bread).
I learned a lot. For example, ever wonder why there are so many Hawaiian-Chinese (i.e., my sister-in-law, nieces and nephews, as opposed to Hawaiian-anything else?) Well, Chinese men were the first immigrant group brought in to work on the sugar plantations . . . about 16 years before the next group (Japanese). Since the single Chinese men were in Hawaii so long, they started marrying and having families with Hawaiian women. (The Japanese and Korean men did the picture bride thing, while the Portuguese came over knowing they would settle here and brought their whole families).
Also, I never knew that many Korean immigrants came to work in Hawaii's plantations because they wanted to escape religious persecution (they wanted to practice Christianity).
The museum really shows what life was like back then. Everything from tools and architecture to midwifery to dress to food to pidgin english. My dad grew up on a plantation on the Big Island and he visited this place and also enjoyed the tour.
The only reason Hawaii's Plantation Village does not get 5-stars from me is because they are only open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The tour itself is about 2-hours (they offer it in Japanese as well as English). Oohh...and they sell yummy tamarind candy (coated with sugar) there. Love that! Make time to check this place out.
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