Yosihiko H. Sinoto (September 3, 1924 – October 4, 2017) was a Japanese-born American anthropologist at the Bishop Museum in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

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 state ...

. He is known for his anthropological expeditions throughout the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, particularly Hawaii and French Polynesia.

Biography

Sinoto was born in Tokyo in 1924. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

ended, he went to study at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, but was recruited to be anthropologist Kenneth Emory's research assistant before he got there. In 1954 he moved to Hawaii, where he began his archaeological work at South Point on

. In 1960 he went to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

, in French Polynesia. He graduated as BA at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1958 and he acquired his

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

at the University of Hokkaido in Japan in 1962. In 1964-5 he excavated

Hane Hane may refer to: *Hane, Marquesas Islands Hane is the largest settlement on the island of Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. Hane, a notable archaeological site, has a smaller population than the capital of Vaipae'e. Geog ...

in the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

, where he discovered more than 12,000 bird bones. Nearly 10,000 of them are reported to belong to about seven species of

shearwaters Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These t ...

and

petrels Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

. On the island of

Huahine Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands group ''(Îles sous le Vent).'' At the 2017 census it had a population of 6,075. ...

, where he worked for 40 years, he helped to restore and preserve the prehistoric village of Maeva with its temple ruins, or

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

. In 1977 he discovered the remnants of a deep-sea voyaging canoe. Sinoto's further expeditions led him to the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...

Marquesas The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in t ...

Tuamotus The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

and others, where he studied the settlements, artifacts, migration patterns and Polynesian cultural ties. Though he officially retired in 2013, Sinoto continued to work until his death on October 4, 2017. Yosihiko Sinoto's wife, Kazuko Sinoto, who died in 2013, was a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

of Japanese immigration. His son, Akihiko, was an archaeologist at the Bishop Museum.

Honors

Sinoto is honored as a Tahitian chevalier (knight) of the

Order of Tahiti Nui The Order of Tahiti Nui was established on 5 June 1996 by the Assembly of French Polynesia to reward distinguished merit and achievements in the service to French Polynesia. History The Order of Tahiti Nui was established June 5, 1996 by resolu ...

in 2000 and the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays. He also was awarded the Society of Hawaiian Archaeology’s Naki‘ikeaho Cultural Stewardship Award, the Bishop Museum’s Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal, and the Historic Hawaii Foundation's lifetime achievement award. He was also named a Living Treasure of Hawaii. Sinoto's lorikeet (''Vini sinotoi''), an extinct

lorikeet Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the ...

species in the

, and ''Sir Yosihiko Sinoto'', a hybrid variety of hibiscus, are both named for him.

Bibliography

References

*Robert D. Craig, Russell T. Clement: ''Who's who in Oceania, 1980-1981''. Institute for Polynesian Studies, Brigham Young University—Hawaii Campus, 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinoto, Yosihiko H. 1924 births 2017 deaths Japanese anthropologists Huahine People from Tokyo Japanese emigrants to the United States Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 5th class University of Hawaiʻi alumni Hokkaido University alumni University of California alumni Japanese archaeologists 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American archaeologists 21st-century American anthropologists 21st-century American archaeologists Knights of the Order of Tahiti Nui

Biography

Honors

Bibliography

Further reading

References