 This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. My name is Mark Schloff and I'm the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea program. Today, my program is titled King Kalakaua's Trip Around the World, but it could just as easily have been titled Lawyer Across the Sea, because in 1869, before becoming King, King Kalakaua had passed the bar in Hawaii and become a lawyer. I like to think that King Kalakaua took his lawyerly skills with him when he became King. In 1881, King Kalakaua had been King for about eight years. At that time, he decided to travel around the world. I have some questions. Why did he leave his kingdom at this time? What happened on his journey? Who do you meet? My guests today will tell us these answers. My guests are Zeta Kapchoy, educator at Ielani Palace, the historian and docent educator at Ielani Palace, and Teresa Valencia, the director of curation and education at Ielani Palace. Zeta has been affiliated with the palace since 1977. Zeta conducts the docent training classes and does research to support a wide variety of palace programs and initiatives. Teresa oversees restoration efforts of the palace, manages its royal collections, as well as develops new exhibits and education programs. And for full disclosure, I'm on the board of directors of the Friends of Ielani Palace. So welcome, Zeta and Teresa. Thank you very much for being my guests today. Mahalo for asking us. Thank you. My pleasure, my pleasure. Why? Why? Why, Zeta, tell me the answer to this. I mean, it's only a little more than a hundred years. Why did King Kalakawa take this time? Kalakawa told the community before he left that we all have problems and I'm going abroad to see if I can find some solutions. When he was interviewed in New York City, the New York City newspaper mentions Washington D.C. paper rather than New York, he was gathering knowledge about people, industries, occupations, and to develop commercial relationships with other nations. And he apparently was very successful because he made a similar report when he got home. Let me read for you what he said in his speech. All nations have trials and troubles with wisdom and courage. We must press on and we have a future with much hope in it. You have heard with what kindness and respect the rulers of foreign nations have treated me and that kindness has touched me deeply. And so this was an interesting period of time in Hawaii's history. King Kalakawa was maybe a modern leader at that time and times had changed and colonial powers had an eye on Hawaii. So he decided to take approximately ten months to travel around the world. He was gone for eleven. Eleven months. Okay. And what happened on his trip? Where did he go and who did he meet and who did he go with? He took three people with him, Charles Hastings, Judd, who was his chamberlain. He took William N. Armstrong at the behest of the government. William Armstrong was to investigate possible immigrants to Hawaii because a population had been dying out because of introduced diseases. The Armstrong was there as a government official. And we got a photo. That's a photo of William Armstrong. William Armstrong. Okay. He also talked to Judd. There's Judd. Yeah. He also took a man named Robert von Olinhoffen who had showed up in Hawaii on a steamer and got work at the government hotel and befriended Kalakawa because Kalakawa at the time was Chamberlain for Kamehameha the fifth. That was knowledgeable about European protocol and he was a linguist. The Kalakawa took him to help out. And he was kind of a guy that told him what to do and what to say in certain situations. Is that right? He trained Ilkaya first in court protocol for a year. And then he also helped out Kalakawa and his cohorts when they were traveling so they didn't break protocol. But you need to understand Kalakawa decided to travel incognito because if you're traveling as head of state or monarch there are certain rules that have to be followed but we didn't travel incognito. You can fly under the radar. And that's what he was trying to do. And that's what he was trying to do. Trying to investigate a little bit. Yeah. Investigate and check out and not have to do all the formal calls that protocol would require. However when Kapilani kind of anticipated that he might have some challenges she packed the royal standard before he left. Okay. And what was that reason? And it's a good thing that she did. We got a photo of the royal standard. That is a replica of King Kalakawa's royal standard. Yeah. Okay. And so what happened? What happened? Well how did he start his trip? Where did he go? He had to go to San Francisco first because no steamer traveled from Hawaii to Japan because he was going to start in the Orient and then mid-East Europe and then through the United States. So all travel and he was going by steamer. Steamer. Okay. Not sailboat but steamer. And all travel he had to go to San Francisco to go to Asia. Correct. Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah. So what happened in San Francisco? The Japanese council in San Francisco let the government in Japan know that Kalakawa was on the way. The steamer captain taught Kalakawa into flying the royal standard as they approached Yokohama, which was his first port of call. Dead quiet in Yokohama. It was like where is everybody? And as their bow passed the bow of the first ship in port, saluting guns were fired, the sailors manned the yards, flags were flown and every single steamer in port, that happened. When they arrived at their docking place, they were welcomed and a small ship, small boat conveyed them to the pier. The emperor's band began playing Hawaii Pono'i. Armstrong comments in his book that reduced the entire party from Hawaii to tears. They were given a royal welcome. Right. Right. And so King Kalakawa, Teresa, he thought he was traveling incognito and got this great welcome in Yokohama Bay. And here was the, as I understand it, was the imperial band playing Hawaii Pono'i for him. So very touching. Yeah, at that time and they were in tears. And Armstrong and Judd were friends of his from small kid time. And there they'd worked in various government positions. So they connected. And those two guys, what were their jobs on this trip? What did they have to do? Judd seems to have just been an executive assistant, if you will. Friend. Yeah, executive assistant and friend. And Armstrong, a similar position, but his primary challenge for the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii was to investigate possibilities of immigrants to Hawaii. I see. Which led in Japan four years later to the Kanyaku Imen, the beginning of the massive immigration from Japan to Hawaii. Okay. All right. So what happened? What happened in Japan? He became a personal guest of the emperor. The Meiji emperor. The Meiji emperor and was given a palace to live in while he was there. And did a lot of visiting, did a lot of, yeah, visited a lot of different places, checked out a paper mill, checked out temples, checked out places. One of the things he did is he met with someone who was involved in the treatment of leprosy in Japan. Investigating. That had been a problem here in Hawaii. It was a problem in Hawaii. Yeah. And this began also the exchange of royal orders. Okay. Kalakala gave the emperor of Japan the Night's Grand Cross order of Kamehameha the first and the emperor in return gave Kalakala the order of the Chrysanthemum and gave people in his traveling party the order of the rising sun. Okay. Teresa, you have brought a few things to show us. Yes. And tell us what they are, please. So this is... Well, tell us what the first one is. We'll get to the rest. So this is the royal order of the rising sun. Yeah. And that's the real thing, right? This is the real deal, yes. Yeah. Wow. So this one... Is that the one that was presented at the time? Yes. This is the one that was presented, yes, to Judd. Wow. To Judd. Oh, okay. It's a very beautiful, beautiful royal order. And it actually can be seen on display in the Yolani Palace basement galleries during normal tour hours. And in those galleries they have other types of orders and things, too, that the king got. And what things he gave to, or is that in there? Yeah. So we have a number of Hawaiian royal orders as well as royal orders from other nations that are on display that were either given by the king to the king or to some of the officials. Okay. Wow. And anything else about these gifts that were given in Japan? Is there anything about... You know, actually... Please forgive me, but this was awarded in 1884 to Judd when he visited Tokyo. So it was afterwards, I think, because they established that relationship during the World Tour in 1881. Okay. So Judd then received this award as his position in the royal household, if he will. And that started the relationship with the emperor of Japan. Now, what more happened in Japan? I mean, I find this interesting and fascinating. Our strong says Kalakau snuck away and took off with the chamberlain of the emperor's household. And they're wondering, what's going on? Yeah. And it turned out, Kalakau had met with the emperor to propose... Privately? Privately marriage between Princess Kailani and one of the emperor's sons. And according to Armistrong, when he found out about that, the emperor took it in good stride, commented that this would really break tradition in Japan, but didn't say no right away. It was after they got home that they received a letter from the emperor declining the proposal. And so you always think, what if? Yeah, what if? What if? Yeah. Things history could have changed. Might be. Okay. So that was their first foreign stop. And wow. Yeah. So what happened next? Where did they go next? And what were they learning as they went? Teresa, yeah? Yes. I'm sorry, I have to correct myself from what I earlier said about the royal order. It wasn't actually presented to Judd. So sorry for the mistake. It was actually presented to Iaakea. Oh, okay. And it was Curtis P. Iaakea II that actually donated it to Iolani Palace. Okay. Yeah. So I'm sorry. That's fine. That one that you're talking about. This one here, yes. But Judd and Armistrong each got that same order when they went with the king, right? Yes. Yeah. But this one in particular. So that example is the one that Iaakea got. Okay. Yeah. Iaakea was an official in the government. And for a while he also served Kalakala and Nidukalani as Chamberlain. So in a good position to be at least tough for the government. All right. So Yokohama after that, after Japan, where are we going? What happens? They actually were in Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagasaki before going on to China. They spent a lot of time in Japan. And then, yeah. I've often wondered about why they spent so much time in Japan. And what do you think? They were having a wonderful time. Yeah. Beautiful time. And one trip, one visit, led to another visit, led to another invitation. And led to all these people from Japan coming to Hawaii that has affected our culture. Yeah. Ever since. Ever since. Yeah. Yeah. Kalakala was in Hong Kong. And the official from Siam, now known as Thailand, led his government to know. Kalakala and the Kingdom of Hawaii did not have diplomatic relations with Siam at the time. But when he arrived in Bangkok, he was given a welcome like he got in Japan. A royal welcome. And one of the really, what I think is a cool story about Siam is that through Longhorn, the King of Siam at the time is the prince that's depicted in the story, the King and I. Descendants of his have visited Hawaii in 1931 and 1960s. And most recently, a great granddaughter rededicated the Thai Pavilion up at the East West Center, which is a gift from the late King of Thailand. So all these things that started over 100 years ago are still coming back to visit us. Yeah. And talk to us. Definitely. And these relationships are kind of strong, aren't they? They are. I mean, it's kind of funny to think about it. But King Kalakala developed a relationship with a King of Siam whose children's children, I guess, are still coming here. And they came to the palace, too, right? Definitely. Yeah. Okay. So what happened after Siam and where are we going? Through a lot of other countries in the Orient, including India. And as they were heading to Egypt, one of our co-workers' favorite stories has to do with a meal. Okay, no. We're going to take a break and then we're going to talk about that meal in Egypt a little bit more, okay? This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Greetings. This is me, Angus McTek, the longtime host and star of Yibachi Talk. Think Tech is important to our community because we bring all kinds of cool ideas and I bring gadgets to the show. So you got to watch it for sure. But for the first time, Think Tech Hawaii is participating in an online web-based fundraising campaign that raised $40,000. Give thanks to Think Tech. We'll run only during the month of November and you can help. Please donate what you can that Think Tech in Hawaii can continue to be public awareness and promote civic engagement through free programming like mine and I'm in charge. I've already made my donation and it's really hard to get the discussmen to make a donation but I already did. Please send in your tax deductible contribution by going to this website. Thanks for Think Tech dot Cosbox dot com. Say that three times fast. On behalf of the community enriched by Think Tech, Hawaii's 30 plus weekly shows. Thank you and we're mahalo for watching Think Tech and your generosity. Let your wing gang free wherever you be. Aloha. Welcome back to Law Across the Sea and I am here with Zita Kupchoy, Teresa Valencia and we are talking about King Kalakaua's trip around the world. King Kalakaua, the royal lawyer. He became a lawyer and then he became king and I always like to tell people that. I didn't know that for 40 years until Zita told me and I learned a little bit about King Kalakaua. So when we left we were talking about a royal meal on the way to Egypt. Before I say the royal meal I want to backtrack to what you just said about him being a lawyer. In India and in several other locations he actually connected with chief justices and observed courts in action in other nations. So the royal meal. A telegram was sent to people that were going to be hosting his party in Egypt. The telegram said prepare lunch for the king of the Sandwich Islands. That was the draft. What was received is prepare lunch for the king. Sandwiches. So when sandwiches were brought out for the royal party his host in that location got all upset because that was not an appropriate meal for a royal party. So the train that was going to carry him up to Cairo was delayed. All the more appropriate meal was prepared for the king of this king of Hawaii. You know I like these stories and I like the fact that King Kalakaua, we learn a lot about him from this travel. He went to courts. I mean that tells you he has an interest in law and order and finding out more about it and he's not just somebody that's having parties all the time. He's somebody that's interested in developing expertise and learning. Vermont newspaper commented that he was very knowledgeable about international law and who they got that information from. I'd love to find out but he was talking to people all over the place. And Teresa, something happened in Egypt too. He got a nice gift in Egypt and what was that? Yeah. So it's actually this figurine here. It's a new Shabadi Egyptian figurine of Ramesses II. It's carved in stone and it's actually in size with features and hieroglyphics on it. So with this came an accompanying document and it was on Hawaiian Code of Arms stationary when it was donated to Iolani Palace. And it states that this figurine was actually a gift to Kalakaua from the Qadai of Egypt during the 1881 World Tour. So a very interesting figurine that we have in the collection. And that the Egyptian government or authorities would think that this is something that would be of interest and now it's preserved here in Iolani Palace, right? Right. And is this also shown downstairs? No. Actually this one is usually taken care of up in the attic spaces. So it's wonderful to be able to share it. Okay. Yeah. It's not something we keep it secure. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So Egypt, what else happened on this tour? Back to Europe to Great Britain. Back through Europe, back to Great Britain and then to United States. Okay. Great Britain. I was fascinated by that relationship. What, you know, what's going on? He was a personal, the Prince of Wales was escorting him all over the place. And a biography about the Prince of Wales mentions he was doing that in the hopes of convincing Kalakaua to allow Great Britain to annex in Hawaii instead of somebody else. But what I found was really interesting is that the Prince of Wales wife and Kalakaua led the ball at one party. Now this is an honor. The highest ranking man and the highest ranking woman start the dance. The guest of honor was King Kalakaua of Hawaii. Yeah. And this caused the Crown Prince of Germany go in in jealousy because he was Queen Victoria's grandson and how come this King from Hawaii gets to go in front of him? Yeah. And the Prince of Wales comment was either he's a king or he's not a king. Get over it. Yeah. But what I found really, really cool is that Kalakaua did meet with Queen Victoria. One of the first things Victoria discussed with him is the hospitality that her son, the Duke of Edinburgh, was treated to when he visited Hawaii in 1869. The same year Kalakaua became a lawyer. She also asked about Queen Emma who had visited and met with Victoria 17 years earlier. And Queen Victoria, yeah, she was quite related to the Hawaiian family. It seems like they respected her quite a bit. They did and she them. Yeah. Kapi'umani and Mediokalani called on her. When she was educated. Later. Getting educated in England. What happened there? What happened with respect to the orders and that type of thing, Teresa? Oh, yeah. So I brought a royal order to share here. It's the royal order of St. Michael and St. George. And so it's a great, it's a British royal order. And it's silver faceted. It's a seven-rabe star. And there's actually gold ones in between the silver there. And it's St. Michael trampoline Satan. That's the center of the fiction here. And it's just a beautiful royal order. And Victoria gave this, is that correct? To King Kala Kala? Yes. I see. And what did he do? What did he do back? He, like with the Emperor of Japan, he gave to Queen Victoria the Night's Grand Cross, Kamehameha I with Kala. With Kala is like a necklace. And only four with Kala were given. Victoria, the President of France, the Tsar of Russia, and the Emperor of Japan. And the exchange of royal orders is a symbol of respect between monarchs and between nations. Okay. And Teresa, this one is downstairs? Yes. This one can be seen on display. Okay. And we have a royal order of Kamehameha. The first, the Night's Grand, that royal order with Kala in our basement gallery as well. Okay. Very nice. And so, we see here on this trip, King Kala Kala is feeling out Japan and Siam and Egypt. And now he's in Great Britain and talking about politics, I think. I mean, I kind of hear this underneath all of this, is that there is some, there's a political talk about that. I mean, in Japan he's talking about Princess Kailani and maybe a marriage. And then they're talking about bringing in Japanese to work in Hawaii. And then in Great Britain, they know they're competing perhaps with the United States for some sort of dominant position. And so that's being talked about, right? There were rumors all throughout his trip that he was looking for someone to buy the islands. And he and his party kept having to deny it. No, we're not trying to sell Hawaii. Okay. All right. So, what happened next? He went to Great Britain and then what? Where did he go? One of these side trips was Portugal. Immigration from Portugal had started three or four years earlier. But on to the United States. While he's in Great Britain, Garfield is assassinated. Before Kala Kala arrives in New York City, Garfield dies. So out of respect for the deceased, President Kala Kala did not accept any public invitations. But he did meet with some interesting characters, including one very interesting guy that I'd like to learn about. Who was this interesting guy? Thomas Edison. Okay. Kala Kala had an interest in electric lights and decided one of the best places to find out more about it was Edison's Fifth Avenue Laboratory in New York City. And we have a photo right now. Those are the electric lights at the palace. Electric lights at the palace. Yeah. Yeah. And King Kala Kala got them installed before the White House, right? Yeah. Four years before the White House got their electric lights. And so he met with Thomas Edison. He learned a lot about Japan, Great Britain, and Egypt. And he got all these exchanges. Close out, please. What did he learn? What do you think he learned? Both of you, give me a brief statement. What did King Kala Kala learn from his trip around the world? I think he learned that a lot of the nations were having the same challenges that he was experiencing here with immigration and with new technology. And he also learned that there are always ways to meet those challenges. Okay. Theresa? I think it also highlighted the importance of these diplomatic relationships with other nations and the exchange of ideas and also bringing people to Hawaii as well. And the contributions those immigrants made to Hawaii then and to Hawaii. And it's a continuing story. This trip continues in a way, right? Yeah. Well, thank you both very much. I appreciate having you here today. And especially these beautiful objects. And look forward to our next time. Aloha. Thank you. Mahalo for inviting us.