Interesting Islanders

Introducing Bill Kikuchi

By Karen Welsh
Happy is a great word to describe 62-year-old Bill Kikuchi. In fact, that's the first word I ever heard him say, or sing as it turns out.
Bill walked into a party I was recently attending, crooning his rendition of the classic song "Happy Holidays."
Bing Crosby doesn't have to worry about Bill taking up a singing career, but if the ageless singer was alive he would need be on guard, because Bill stole the spotlight and lit up the room in a way very few people could do.
That wasn't too shabby for a man who openly claimed it was almost past his bedtime.
This was an easy crowd for Bill to please. Turns out he is a people person extraodinaire, outstanding in his field or far off in left field as the field representative, a bona fide political hack, working for the past 23 years as the East Hawaii eyes and ears for Sen. Daniel Inoye.
That's a pretty good career for a man who was born on Lanai in 1942, then moved with his family to Hilo in 1949.
"My dad worked on a plantation on Lanai," Bill said. "But, he had an auntie who owned Arakawa Jewelers on Kamehameha. She asked my dad to come work with her at the store."
Bill graduated from Hilo High School in 1960 before attending San Francisco City College and Honolulu Academy of Arts where he earned a degree as a graphic artist.
Then, Bill returned to East Hawaii and worked his way up the proverbial ladder, but he did it with the ease of the most popular kid in class.
All of his success, or most of it any ways, could be attributed to his employment at the Hawaii Tribune Herald during the late 1960s. It was during this time Bill drew political cartoons for the newspaper.
As a result, he was invited to many political gatherings. Before long, he was helping candidates plan and win their races.
"Here I was doing all this stuff, drawing political cartoons," Bill said. "Then, I became involved in Democratic Party political campaigns."
In the early 1970s, Bill married his wife, Bobbi, and had three children. He kept working in the political arena and in 1980 he became the chairman of the Democratic Party.
Two years later, Bill was approached by Sen. Inoye and has worked with him ever since.
Bill said there are many faces to politics. But, each person matters, no matter their political party affiliation.
"The way Sen. Inoye and I see it is there are no democrats or republicans," he said. "The first question I ask anyone who walks through my office is, 'How can Sen. Inoye assist you?' We are here to serve all Hawaii residents because they are all Inoye's constituents."
Bill is adept at dealing with a lot of movers and shakers, and people with ideas who simply want to "talk story," but it's the dreams that become reality that keep him going.
"Politics makes the impossible happen," he said. "I've seen it many times, political initiatives that were once a vision, but are now happening. It's that kind of stuff that is really rewarding, to see that kind of thing happening."
Perhaps Bill's greatest achievement is yet to come. When he retires in the near future he would love to solve the Coqui frog problem.
"One of my innermost endeavors is to have a contest to make Coqui frog pupus," he said. "That way people will go out and catch them and, oh boy, I think they would be great to eat."
And that, dear Bill, would make everyone in Hawaii happy, very happy. Happy Holidays!