Descendants of Hawaii's 1st Japanese immigrants fete 150th anniversary

Gwendellyn Sanchez hoped 100 people would attend the gathering she'd organized in Honolulu for descendants of "Gannenmono" -- the first group of Japanese immigrants to arrive in Hawaii in the 19th century, including her great-grandfather, Tokujiro Sato.In the end, more than twice as many came as Hawaii kicked off its yearlong celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants arriving in the islands, helping to give the commemorations a deeply personal significance to Sanchez.After spending more than five months compiling the Sato family tree, she emotionally greeted arou…READ FULL ARTICLE