"Mo'ili'ili — The Life of a Community" is based on scholarly research, but the detailed stories and first-person accounts of people who lived, worked and played in the historic Honolulu neighborhood make the work come alive.

More than 100 people were interviewed for the coffee-table-sized, 400-page reference book, capturing their memories of attending the Japanese language school, chasing down foul balls outside the old Honolulu Stadium and swimming in the Ala Wai Canal.

Sojiro Takamura, 85, grew up in Mo'ili'ili in the tailor's shop that doubled as a home his father built. A 1925 photograph of the building, at the corner of South King and Thompson (now Hausten) streets, shows Kuhei Takamura and his family and staff standing in front. That's on Page 130.

"From that time, he actually achieved his dream of building his own home," said Takamura, a board member of the Moiliili Community Center, which published the book.

For the book, Takamura shared his stories of growing up in the multicultural district, once the central Japanese shopping district of O'ahu. He saw people making liquor in their homes during Prohibition. The famous baseball players of the day, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, passed through.

Other people shared stories and brought in photographs of their family's farms and businesses at local meetings and the popular Discover Mo'ili'ili Festivals. Many are included in the map- and photo-filled book.

GOOD STORIES

As the book's editor, Laura Ruby, an artist and University of Hawai'i instructor, spent untold hours over four years on the project. It cost about $77,000 to publish, and was funded by grants from foundations, individuals and businesses.

Ruby painstakingly researched the property ownership, the flora and fauna, the geology and peoples of the area. She pored over maps, visited museums and archives, and interviewed experts to ensure the accuracy of the material.

"We call it a research book, and as such, it becomes a reference for people," said Ruby. "The oral interviews are used to add to the actual facts of the research. You will find a lot of good stories in there."

Stories about the early Hawaiians growing taro in the area. The Japanese immigration. The busy shopping district, in its many incarnations. And life in the urban center today.

The book discusses the importance of jobs at the rock quarry, sports at Honolulu Stadium, worship at Kamo'ili'ili Church and Mo'ili'ili Hongwanji Mission, and transportation on the public trolley in forming the community. All are gone today.

"As we got into it, we saw the importance of associations and relationships in the early days, and how they carried through into the community," said E. Rebecca Ryan, the community center's executive director.

DEEP ROOTS

The book also reveals secrets. One is that the area is above a series of limestone caverns with flowing water and blind fishes. Those formations have caused several sinkholes to form in the neighborhood over the years.

Another secret, detailed in the book, is the location of an agricultural heiau.

Mo'ili'ili, which means "pebble lizard" in Hawaiian, was a thriving Hawaiian community until it was decimated by smallpox in the mid-19th century.

Chinese immigrants arrived in the 1870s, followed by Japanese laborers who worked the taro patches and rice paddies and in the rock quarry where Cooke Field is today. Rock for 'Iolani Palace and Central Union Church was cut there.

The business community prospered, and by the 1920s, housing tracts began to appear, eventually pushing the farms out.

Most people remember the area as the site of the old Hono-lulu Stadium at King and Isenberg streets. The stadium opened in 1926 and was the premier sports center on O'ahu until, termite-ridden and eclipsed by Aloha Stadium, it was torn down in 1976. Today, Old Stadium Park occupies the site.

The cornerstones of the neighborhood are now the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and the 60-year-old Moiliili Community Center, which was founded by residents who bought the land and deeded it to public use during World War II.

New groups of immigrants, including Micronesians, Koreans, Laotians and Vietnamese, have moved into the aging low-rent homes and walk-up apartments.

Ryan said the book could be used as a template for other communities to preserve the social, environmental and economic aspects of their neighborhoods.

"In this transient world, people want something to show this is our roots. We live here," she said. "The book helped me learn the history of the community, the deep roots and the forces that shaped people. It is a wonderful book, not just about Mo'ili'ili but about Hawai'i."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.