HanaFooda is a indie studio that lovingly crafted a Hanafuda Hawaii Grinds Poker Deck as a tribute to my family’s connection to Lahaina and the Hawaiian Islands. After the devastating 2023 Maui fires, I was looking for an artistic outlet to channel the immense sadness I was feeling. Out of that grief, the idea of HanaFooda was born.
I’m a hapa-haole, which means “half-foreigner”. Me and my siblings were affectionately called this because we are half-Japanese and half-Caucasian. Although I was born on Maui, we later moved away and I was raised in Oregon…quite a world away. The summers I spent with my grandparents in Lahaina, became a journey of discovery. It immersed me in the cultural significance of my father’s roots. Among many things, I was awakened to food experiences both jarring and delightful. These were lessons in tradition and family bonds, and the vibrant flavors of Japanese Hawaiian life. Through this curated Hanafuda Poker deck I made, I aimed to dip into a mixture of contemporary local Hawaiian Grinds as well as elements of native Hawaiian food and a touch of island history.
Professionally, I’m a 3d Animator & Graphics Artist with a background in visual effects compositing and traditional art school training. I find myself lucky enough to combine my love of art with current technological trends. I’ve found myself making my own roots in the bustling metropolis of the New York City area, where I went to school and continue to work. As a side hustle, my husband and I co-create a successful Chess Memory Game, called Chess Openings Memory Match. That venture gave me the confidence to branch out on my own and establish my own independent brand. I hope to grow beyond a Hanafuda Poker deck, to include relevant blog posts and stories and must have unique items. So please stay tuned!
Join me for the ride as I reminisce, catalog and celebrate all these stories on My Etsy Shop.
Check out my newly emerging Etsy shop called Old Time Aloha. I want to focus on celebrating mom and pops shops and the old time nostalgia of yesteryear in the islands. I’ve got a popular Oama Fishing kitchen towel for all those who love this beloved pastime. And don’t miss the very quirky design of the Luau Pig…guest of honor or the main course? Please support a small biz and share with anyone you think would love this!
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A little about my family.
My father is Nisei, a second generation of Japanese Americans. He was born and raised in a tight knit community in Lahaina, on Maui. My grandfather was a Japanese sugar cane plantation worker. During WWII he proudly served in the highly decorated “Go for Broke” 442 Regiment Combat Team. My grandmother came to Hawaii as a small girl. She had a 6th grade education and dropped out of school so the eldest son in her family could continue to go to school. My grandparent’s plantation house was centrally located only a block away from The Pioneer Mill over by Lahaina Luna Rd. From the bits and pieces of stories from my dad’s life growing up, I got a glimpse of the warmth of his own grandmother (my great-grandmother) who he affectionately called “Baban”, a woman who only spoke Japanese, but connected thru actions of love. He told me stories of not having shoes to wear and walking around bare foot. He reminisced about getting up early before school, heading to the beach to meet a friend. They would retrieve from their hiding spots their modest bamboo fishing poles and resort to using little balls of bread on the hook for lack of real bait. He talked of his experience working in the sugar cane fields as a young man to earn extra money. How he quickly realized that it was the petite, fragile looking older ladies working right next to him that had the smarts and stamina to outperform him and all the other cocky youth in that hot Hawaii sun. There were so many little comments and teaching moments, I wish I would have written them all down as I heard them.