The Yamase Building at the corner of Moana Road and Kaumualii Highway in

Waimea, Kauai Waimea (literally, "red water" in Hawaiian) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 2,057 at the 2020 census. The first Europeans to reach Hawaii landed in Waimea in 1778 (giving rise to Kaua ...

, was built around 1919 by an itinerant

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

for Seiichi Yamase, a nisei son of Japanese

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s. Despite being the only structure of its kind in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, it well represents both commercial architecture in rural Hawaii and the contribution of immigrants to the growth of commerce there. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996. Corner buildings with curved facades are rare, but not unknown in Hawaii. However, most of them are

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

, not wood frame constructions, and no other such curved corner sits beneath a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

ed, rectangular, Japanese-style ( irimoya)

hip In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...

and

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

. The cantilevered, wrap-around

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

on the upper floor follows the curve of the walls beneath, serving the same function as the

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

walkways around traditional Japanese homes. The upper-story doors are also paned sliding doors, like Japanese shōji. Upper-story balconies were typical of many small family-owned shops, where the family lived above the shop. The ground floor has two sets of double doors, each providing access to a separate commercial space. The building first housed a branch of

Sumitomo Bank was a major Japanese bank based in Osaka and a central component of the Sumitomo Group. It merged with Sakura Bank on April 1, 2001 to form Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. History Sumitomo Bank was established as a private enterprise in ...

, but has also housed at times a

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

store, barber shop, liquor store, and other small businesses. Its current tenants are a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

company and a

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

shop. The building has sustained some flood damage over the years, and very severe wind damage during Hurricane Iwa in 1983 and Iniki in 1992, but has since been restored to good condition.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Hawaiian architecture Retail buildings in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Kauai County, Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii