Congratulations to Manago Hotel on their centennial anniversary! Manago will be awarded an Anniversary Recognition at the 2017 Preservation Honor Awards Celebration on May 19.
Hotel History
Manago Hotel is located in Captain Cook Town on the slopes of Mauna Loa at an elevation of 1,350 ft. It overlooks the beautiful Kealakekua Bay, and the ancient Hawaiian Place of Refuge in Honaunau.
Named after the family who founded it, Manago endures as a piece of old Hawai‘i attracting visitors from around the world.
Woven into the Manago Hotel’s history are the captivating stories of two immigrants who came to Hawai‘i from Japan. Kinzo arrived while en route to Canada to study English. When one of his travelling companions lost his money gambling in Honolulu, Kinzo came to Hawai‘i Island to look up a relative and find work. He became a cook for the Wallace family in Captain Cook, settled in and saved money to send away for a picture bride.
Osame was one of 14,000-plus picture brides who immigrated to Hawai‘i between 1907–1923. She arrived in Honolulu in 1913 where she and Kinzo married at a Shinto shrine. A farmer’s daughter, Osame was a hard worker. She soon found work sorting coffee beans for the Captain Cook Coffee Mill and embroidering linens.
Manago Hotel in its early years.
The Wallaces encouraged the couple to open a coffee shop, loaning them $100. The Managos bought a small building and divided it into two rooms: one for their personal use and the other for a sink, stove, and table for making udon (noodles). In addition to the udon, they baked bread to serve with jam and coffee. The couple also did laundry and made a profit of about $10 a day. After their second child was born, Kinzo added another room, and soon taxi drivers travelling between Hilo and Kona inquired if they could spend the night. With that, the Manago Hotel was in business—charging 50 cents to $1 a night for a single bed or a futon on the floor.
Manago Hotel today