In 1972, a lifeguard at Sandy Beach started working on his first book about beaches. One book turned into many, and John Clark is now recognized worldwide as an expert on Hawai'i's sandy shorelines.

Little did Clark know then, though, that his research would plant the seeds for another book, 35 years later — this time about obelisk markers and traditions of Japanese issei fishermen. "Guardians of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai'i," published by the University of Hawai'i Press, was released this month.

During his 1970s research, Clark stumbled upon a carving on a large boulder at Bamboo Ridge, a flat lava point at the Halona Blowhole near Hanauma Bay.

Intrigued, he did some research and discovered this carving was a bas-relief of Jizo, a Buddhist bodhisattva and symbol of protection. Clark learned that it had been erected as a guardian of the sea by members of the Honolulu Japanese Casting Club in 1940, replacing a granite statue that had been severely vandalized years earlier.

In those pre-statehood days, scores of fishermen, particular those gunning to catch prized ulua, were swept off rocky ledges and sea cliffs by powerful waves every year. The club hoped that the statues of Jizo would protect them.

The club, made up of issei (first-generation) Japanese ulua fisherman, launched a community-wide service project from 1931 to 1941, erecting more than 50 obelisk markers at sites where fishermen had drowned to warn others of the coastline dangers.

"(This) was done on their own time and expense," said Clark, a retired deputy fire chief. "Their efforts were an amazing model of concern and care."

Only two of the original wooden markers are left: one at the Halona Blowhole, the other at Suicide Point on the western sea cliff at Hanauma Bay.

The rest, Clark said, have disappeared, the victims of vandalism or age. Writing the book, he said, was a way of preserving this cultural tradition.

"There's nothing to remind us of their history," Clark said. "The majority of people here in Hawai'i have no idea."

WARNING MARKERS

Two years ago the city erected a replica of a traditional obelisk at China Wall, a treacherous surf spot off Portlock Point. That year, a 45-year-old fisherman and a 17-year-old visitor had died there.

The plan was to erect several more obelisks on state land where people had died, including Lana'i Lookout, where a tourist posing for a photograph was swept by a wave into the ocean, and Spitting Caves, off which a 29-year-old tourist had jumped into the ocean and drowned, both also in 2005.

Traditional signage was being ignored, and it was hoped these markers would provide an effective warning.

"The obelisks are completely different," Clark said. "And hopefully they would get people's attention and reinforce to them that they are at a dangerous place where others have lost their lives."

But the first obelisk at China Wall was taken down earlier this year because of repeated vandalism. The city hasn't replaced the marker, let alone installed any others around the Island. (It does have plans, however, for a $1.1 million renovation of the popular Halona Blowhole lookout, where one marker remains.)

"Vandalism has always been with us, and today graffiti is especially rampant," Clark said. "There's no way to prevent it other than hope that the public will respect the obelisks and what they stand for."

Hawai'i has the second-highest drowning fatality rate in the U.S., behind only Alaska, said Dan Galanis, epidemiologist with state Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program.

On average, 61 people — residents, visitors and military personnel — drown each year in Hawai'i, according to DOH statistics. Last year, 59 people drowned in the ocean surrounding the state, down from 68 the year before. About half of those deaths occurred on O'ahu.

Upward of 850 people are rescued from the ocean surrounding O'ahu by city lifeguards each year, many of them ill-prepared to handle surf conditions.

"Warning signs are only effective for people who obey signs," Clark said. "Obviously, they are not effective for those who don't, and they are the people who are drowning.

"They are the people who believed that their own common sense was superior to any message on a sign. ... (But) they didn't know about seasonal high surf. They didn't know that there are long lulls between the big sets. They didn't know that by walking out on a wet ledge during a lull in huge winter surf, they placed themselves in a death zone."

SMALL-KID TIME

Kanako Uchino, of Kane'ohe, remembers seeing Jizo statues next to her elementary school in Komazama, Japan. There was even one on a street close to her home, always adorned with flowers and offerings.

Before arriving to the Islands, however, Uchino had no idea there were Jizo statues on O'ahu's coastlines.

Now the surfer, paddler and underwater photographer feels the more warnings, the better. "Just as any other place, the ocean in Hawai'i changes her face very quickly, from very gentle to extremely dangerous," Uchino said.

Clark's book sheds light on this little-known aspect of Hawai'i's culture and history, which extended well beyond the issei who fished off O'ahu's coasts.

These days ocean-based warning signs — even the obelisks — are typically geared toward novice beach-goers and visitors unfamiliar with Hawai'i's unpredictable ocean.

"The sites haven't changed, just the demographics of the victims," Clark said. "Instead of fishers, the victims today are primarily tourists who are venturing off the beaten track."

The statues of Jizo, one of the most recognizable Buddhist deities, though, aren't only used for protection against ocean threats. In fact, many of them were erected in the Islands as guardians of children. Several on the North Shore, for example, were placed in dangerous inland areas — Kaukonahua Stream and Lake Wilson, for example — where children had drowned, Clark said.

One such statue still sits at the Wahiawa Ryusenji Soto Mission. Members of the congregation continue to place flowers at its feet.

The only statue that remains on the beach on the North Shore is the Hale'iwa Jizo, on the grounds of the Haleiwa Jodo Mission next to the west end of Ali'i Beach Park.

It is the only oceanfront Buddhist temple on O'ahu, famous for its floating-lantern ceremony during the summer obon season.

In 1934, Edna Kayoko, the 2-year-old daughter of the temple's Rev. Buntetsu Miyamoto, wandered alone across the beach fronting the mission and fell into the water, where she drowned.

Miyamoto erected the statue of Jizo at the top of the beach overlooking the ocean where some children's play equipment stands today.

The community cared for these statues in the hopes the deity would return the favor.

These are the stories from Hawai'i's history and culture that Clark wants to keep alive with his book. "This is something that's been lost here in Hawai'i," Clark said. "Without the physical presence of the obelisk on our rocky shores, there's nothing to remind us of their history."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.