loa_log

Hi, I thought I’d write a little bit about myself today.

My name is Loa, hence the name loa_log. Loa means “long” or “big” in Hawaiian. I’m not Hawaiian, but I was born in Hawaii to Japanese parents and spent majority of my life there.

Early Life

I was born in Hawaii, but soon after went back to Japan where my parents are from. My parents ran a live house in Tokyo called Yukotopia. The business was in a four story building with the live house being on the first floor, other businesses on the middle two floors, and our office and home on the fourth floor. I spent the first five years of my life there. Yukotopia had live gigs almost every night. You can hear the music all the way to the fourth floor since the building itself was several decades old, so I’d go to sleep at night feeling the entire building shaking from the bass. On the weekends, I’d mostly spend time at either my aunt or great aunt’s palace so my parents could focus more on their work.

School

At five years old, my family moved to Hawaii. The move was mainly so that my brothers and I could go to school there. My parents still ran the live house in Tokyo and would take turns taking care of us in Hawaii and running the business in Tokyo. When I was 8 years old or so, there was a time when my dad overstayed in the US for too long to take care of us. So the next time he tried to go to Hawaii, he was denied entry and from then on it became my mom and the children in Hawaii and my dad running the business in Japan.

For elementary and middle school, I attended Connections Public Charter School in Hilo. Unlike other schools, Connections only had classes from Mondays to Thursdays and Fridays were kind of like a study hall, and was not required to attend.

For high school, I moved islands and attended Lahainaluna High School on Maui. I believe it is the only public school in the US that has a boarding program, and I was able to get in. Boarding students worked 3 hours a day in exchange for their room and board, had set study and cleaning times, and plenty or rules to follow. (I’d like to write an entire post eventually about my high school experience.)

University

As a senior in high school, I dreamed of going to the mainland US for university, but after analyzing the cost and scholarship situation, I opted to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Oahu.

I moved to Oahu with my best friend from high school, who was attending a different college in the area. We lived in a run down studio for the first year and moved to bigger and better spots every year after that.

I looked for jobs before I moved islands and started working at a musubi shop and restaurant before my first semester started. It was the first time I was able to work for real money, so I was happy to see my bank account grow with each paycheck. I ended up spending most of my time working my part-time jobs than I did in school.

My flex is that even though I didn’t put too much effort into getting my university degree, I was able to graduate in 4 years (which is almost rare in Hawaii,) and I also got to study abroad in South Korea for two semesters (which I can write another whole post about.)

Post-grad

At the time (2016,) I couldn’t care enough to go to my own university graduation. I was probably working that day…

I didn’t look for a job right after graduating from university because I liked the jobs I already had so much. I loved working at the restaurant because the people I worked with made it fun, the money was good, and the flexibility was something that I didn’t want to give up.

About a year out of university, while I was on a trip to India, I got a Facebook Message from a colleague I met though an internship. He offered me a job at his new program, and a couple of months later, I started working for a program ran by the university I graduated from. I ended up working there for a little over a year before I moved to Japan.

I was in Japan from September 2018 to February 2019. Mostly spent time with my grandma in Tokyo and we would go on trips here and there.

I returned to Hawaii in 2019 and stayed until 2023. In those 4 years, I got my Hawaii State Massage License, worked as a barista and server through Covid, and saved money to travel.

Now

Between then and now, I have been able to travel through Japan a little and have taken small trips out of the county as well.

I came back to Japan in February 2023. I spent time with my grandmother and other family until she passed in October 2023.

Since August 2024, I’ve been mostly living with my dad in Kagoshima. He has stage three stomach cancer and although he is mostly self-sufficient, there are times when he can’t move on his own. He is working on opening up Studio Roku, his new live spot in the county side of Kagoshima, and I’m here supporting him in whatever way I can.

Although there is so much I need to do everyday, nothing has been feeling productive or meaningful for myself. Therefore, I started writing. In the hopes that this will take me somewhere I want to be. Let’s see where this goes!