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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Stairs can be intimidating..."}]

Smile 26 5 24

<title>Daily Smile: Sunday, May 24, 2026</title>

Stairs can be intimidating...

Daily Smile: Sunday, May 24, 2026

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, located on Liliha Street, started during a trip to Japan, according to Erin Yonamine, who owns the business with her husband, Jaron Hanus.

“We were sitting at a cat café, having coffee together, and started talking about creating a cozy, Tokyo-meets-Hawaii café,” she says. “We got home from that trip and mapped out a concept, having both a Japanese kei truck and a storefront. Even though we aren’t a cat café, we wanted to keep the ‘cat’ in the name to remember that trip.”

The business’s name derives from the Japanese words for cat (neko) and kitten (koneko). It officially opened in October 2021, and is influenced by the Japanese kissaten, or coffee and tea shop.

“It’s inspired by our love for travel, coffee and Japanese heritage, specifically the nostalgic feel and intentional design of Japanese kissa-culture,” Yonamine says. “Our vision was to create a space that feels like a warm, cozy living room; a place where people can connect, feel taken care of, and want to hang out and stay a little longer.”

The café’s décor and design were intentionally created by the husband-and-wife team. Customers’ experiences when visiting the café were vital, according to Yonamine.

“We wanted a perfect blend of retro and modern Japanese influences,” she says. “We were intentional about everything, from the lighting to the curated music playlists, books, plants, textures and art by local artists. We have a lot of trinkets in the shop, and nothing in the shop is random. Everything is purposefully chosen to evoke a specific feeling; a lot of the things in the shop are things we’ve collected from all of our trips.” 

The cold brew coffee shop is known for its 16-ounce bottled drinks, which customers often pre-order for pick-up.

“We make all of the bottled drinks in-house daily and restock throughout the day, as we sell out,” Yonamine says. “We also have Japanese teas and kid-friendly selections.”

Signature bottled cold brews include Kuro ($8) — a black, unsweetened cold brew — Chairo ($9), a brown lightly sweetened cold berw, and Shiro ($9), a white chocolate cold brew.

“The Chairo is a bolder coffee profile; people like it because they feel like it’s a little stronger,” Yonamine says. “It’s just lightly sweetened and not overpowering. Our Shiro is going to be one of the sweeter cold brews on the menu.”

Other bottled options range from kinako, or roasted soybean ($9.50) and mocha ($9) to lychee rose ($9.50) and caramel macnut ($9.50). The latter is made with cold brew, macadamia milk, caramel, Ghirardelli chocolate and macnut syrup.

Other beverages include matcha or hojicha lattes ($9.50 each), ume iced tea ($9), s’mores iced hot chocolate ($9.50) and strawberry milk “Ichigo” ($9).

“Everyone has their favorites,” Yonamine says. “Now, during summer, the ume iced tea is really popular.”

The café also has a traditional menu with in-store drinks that come in 12- or 16-ounce cups. Some of the most popular beverages include the blueberry matcha latte (12 ounces $6.50, 16 ounces $7.50) and kinako milk (12 ounces $6.25, 16 ounces $7.50). The latter is a nutty blend of oat milk, kinako (roasted soybean flour), cane sugar and honey. The blueberry matcha latte features a blueberry lemon cream top.

Matcha and hojicha lattes are made with Uji matcha and hojicha from Kyoto, according to Yonamine.

“For the matchas, my favorite is going to be either the blueberry matcha or yuzu sparkling matcha,” she says. “Our kinako milk also has the option to add cold brew (for 25 cents). It’s super popular; we also have it as a bottle. Because it sells out often, we can do it in-store.”

As the business’s five-year anniversary comes up this fall, Yonamine says their biggest focus is how to grow and build their team.

“Because of our backgrounds, I’ve spent 15 years teaching, and Jaron has years of experience mentoring through his other businesses,” Yonamine says. “Personal development is a huge part of our culture. We enjoy training our team on things that go beyond just making coffee, focusing more on how we can challenge ourselves to be better humans every day.”

Yonamine explains that she and Hanus have been intentional about bringing on people who share their vision for the business.

“For us, it’s not just about teaching them how to make our drinks; it’s about mentoring them and growing together,” she says. “Neko Koneko’s mission is to craft thoughtful drinks and experiences that bring people together, and it starts with a team that makes you feel supported and gives you that sense of belonging.”

While the café doesn’t have a designated parking lot, metered street parking is available.

Open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays to Thursdays, closed on Fridays

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Neko Koneko owner 061026

<title>Neko Koneko is a Tokyo-meets-Hawaiʻi café</title>

The café — whose name derives from the Japanese word for “cat” — opened in October 2021, and is inspired by its owners’ love for coffee, travel and Japanese heritage. While the business is known for its 16-ounce bottled cold brews, it also offers a traditional menu with in-store drinks.

Neko Koneko is a Tokyo-meets-Hawaiʻi café

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

As Aloha Tower moved into the middle years of the 20th century, tourism was increasing, and it was recognized that future infrastructure improvements were going to be necessary. Although travelers arriving in Hawai‘i by ship were gradually diminishing while those arriving by air were increasing, discussions in 1958 determined that Honolulu's main docks needed major reconstruction. Piers 8 through 11, at the base of Aloha Tower, should have facilities for passengers moved to a second level while cargo handling should be confined to the ground floors of the wharves. 

Unfortunately, this assessment did not take into account two trends that were already identified at the time — jet planes would be starting service to Hawai‘i within a year or two, and ocean cargoes would soon be shifting exclusively to standardized shipping containers, which Matson had begun using this same year. The latter would eventually require all of Honolulu's cargo movements to be relocated to Sand Island.

So even as visitors were moving away from ship travel in favor of faster and cheaper jet airplanes, in June 1963 a bid of over $5 million was accepted for the revamp of the pier complex. On July 11, 1963 the work started, and in June 1964 a controversial elevated traffic ramp's construction began. This structure was to allow access by vehicles to and from the second-story passenger area that filled in the former open space between Piers 8, 9 and 10. The ramp was criticized for how it would block the view of the harbor when looking down Bishop Street, since to keep the degree of its rise gradual, it would have to extend from a base some distance away at Pier 6.

Even worse, to many people, was how the base of Aloha Tower was completely obscured by the new addition, which also left the ground level here perpetually in shadow. Regardless of complaints, the finished project was dedicated on March 29, 1965.

The anticipated need for accommodating increased ocean travelers at Aloha Tower turned out to be incorrect. Their numbers consistently decreased, and in 1970 Matson ended its once-famous passenger service completely, to focus exclusively on cargo transport from then on. The enlarged dock facilities were unused most of the time.

By 1981 came the start of Aloha Tower's next transformation, which truthfully is still going on today. But this process has been so complex and troubled that it's impossible to even attempt to recount it in any detail here. We'll just focus on what happened starting with the closure of the Tower and its docks on November 1, 1993 in preparation for demolition and then new construction. The overall plan for the area was a massive, multi-stage development, which would start with a "festival marketplace" of the type that had already been successful in other US cities like the first one at Fanueil Hall in Boston from 1976, or Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Planned to follow this at Honolulu Harbor would be an office building, a 350 unit condominium, a maritime-specific office structure, a 350 room hotel, a "historic park" and an elevated bridge over Nimitz Highway to Fort Street. Needless to say, none of the latter ever came into existence.

Starting off the redevelopment process was the tearing-down of everything that had been constructed in the 1960s, along with the pier structures at Docks 8 and 9. On July 14, 1994, Aloha Tower stood entirely by itself for the first time ever, with the two-story concrete & steel wharf buildings at its base entirely removed. This was seen as a very positive step in the anticipated creation of what was to become Aloha Tower Marketplace. Intense work was necessary to meet the opening date of November 19, 1994, when about 50,000 people came to see the new $100 million shopping center. Consisting of a very attractive group of two story buildings with open walkways between them, the mix of tenants included retail stores, bars, restaurants and an open area dedicated to kiosks and pushcarts, with total tenants planned to number 200. The unique, scenic setting and the substantial number of Honolulu residents and visitors as potential customers seemed to indicate a bright future.

Except...the bright future never happened. The immediate problem was parking, which was limited and expensive. The rejection of having to pay to leave your car someplace, when lots of other places fairly nearby were free, pretty much doomed the Aloha Tower Marketplace. Within a few weeks came the first worried complaints from tenants, particularly from the pushcart owners. By May 1995 the developer, Aloha Tower Associates, was in arrears to various unpaid vendors as well as to the State of Hawaii, its landlord.

For years afterwards, the marketplace limped along through bankruptcies, lawsuits, failed proposals for parking improvements, different owners and managers, and dwindling tenants. A few of the latter did well, but many failed.

Finally in 2011, Hawai‘i Pacific University — which occupied numerous rented spaces in multiple downtown buildings, mostly along Fort Street — purchased the lease to Aloha Tower Marketplace along with a commercial investor. The following year the complex was 70% vacant, and by 2013 HPU had bought out its partner and had full control. Thereafter the center was redeveloped into student housing and various other school uses.

A handful of commercial tenants are present today, but in February 2020 the last of the original businesses from the 1994 opening finally closed, which was the controversial Hooters bar and restaurant.

And so we conclude in 2026, Aloha Tower's 100th birthday, anticipating that discussions for the future of the tower and its surroundings will be ongoing indefinitely (perhaps), with probably few actual changes to take place. We can say with certainty that someday the Skyline elevated train will be traveling along nearby Nimitz Highway with a station at Bishop Street, but its effects cannot be anticipated, and if anything can be learned from history, it would be unwise to try to guess them in advance.

(For Part 1 of Aloha Tower at 100 Years, click 

1 Aloha Tower 60s 16x9

<title>Aloha Tower at 100 years old, Part 2: It seemed like a good idea at the time ...</title>

In the early 1960s, the State of Hawai‘i invested millions in harbor upgrades that included modernizing Aloha Tower as a terminal for passenger liners. But jet planes soon replaced passengers liners, rendering the terminal obsolete. In the 1990s, those structure were torn down to create Aloha Marketplace, a shopping and dining destination that would never draw the anticipated crowds. ASD history writer DeSoto Brown brings us to the present day as Aloha Tower celebrates its centennial.

Aloha Tower at 100 years old, Part 2: It seemed like a good idea at the time ...

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

North Shore brothers Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm

 will take one of the biggest talent competition stages as they audition for “America’s Got Talent” in an episode that will be televised tomorrow.

The duo already has a connection to fame as 

. Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm will be featured in the second episode of Season 21 of “America’s Got Talent,” which airs at 2 p.m. HST on 

 on NBC. The grand prize for the competition is 

 and has millions of followers on social media.

The brothers could not be reached immediately for comment.

“Every stage is an opportunity to share our passion, learn and grow,” shared the duo on Instagram.

Currently, they have more than 250,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. In 2025, their cover of the Elvis Presley classic “Burning Love” was featured in Disney’s live action 

 Today, that song, which was produced by their pop star uncle, has more than 12 million streams on Spotify.

 include “Always on My Mind,” “The Island Girl is Mine,” and “Love Slow.”

Contestants for “America’s Got Talent” can be 

, according to the show’s audition website. The judges for this season are Howie Mandel, Melanie Brown or “Mel B,” Simon Cowell and Sofía Vergara.

, where select acts get a chance to perform a second time before judges choose which groups advance to the live shows, according to NBC’s website.

Nyjah Music and Zyah Rhythm recently announced new music. The duo shared on social media that their new song “Waste No Time” will be released on June 12.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Nyjah Music and Zyah Rhythm

<title>'America’s Got Talent' has Hawaiʻi contestants</title>

These North Shore brothers will be featured in Season 21 of “America’s Got Talent.” Tune in Tuesday, June 9, to catch their performance.

'America’s Got Talent' has Hawaiʻi contestants

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

Jack Johnson is combining a few of his favorite things 

 into a two-night hometown Hawaiʻi tour launch at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu on May 14 and 15.

Tickets are set to go live this week, after being delayed due to recent floods that impacted the Islands. A “locals-only” presale starts Thursday, April 16, at 10 a.m., followed by a general sale on Friday, April 17, at 10 a.m., per a Wednesday news release. 

Organizers say that part of the proceeds will go toward 

, which is supporting ongoing needs and future rebuilding efforts for those affected by the storms.

Jack and his wife, Kim Johnson, recently announced a commitment of $500,000 for flood recovery through their 

“The North Shore is my hometown, and this flooding is affecting our community in a very real way,” Jack Johnson said in a March statement. “Many of our friends, neighbors and local farmers were hit hard. Recovery will take time, and we hope this pledge encourages others to come together to support the people who need it most.”

earlier this month that despite ticket sales being postponed, his “SurfFilmMusic” tour was “still on track.”

She added that their home and vehicles were affected by the back-to-back storms in March, but not to the same degree of devastation as others in the area.

Jack Johnson will also perform during Hawaiian Council

Aloha in Action Benefit Concert scheduled for Thursday, April 23, in Ko Olina. 

” showcases the evolution of his various hobbies from his formative years and beyond.

The film is directed by Emmett Malloy, featuring Johnson, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Gerry Lopez, Chris Malloy, G. Love, Ben Harper, John Florence, Kim Johnson, and others, in loving memory of Tamayo Perry, per the release.

The upcoming Hawaiʻi tour will feature Johnsonʻs new documentary, a talk story session and acoustic concert along with G. Love and friends.

In addition, Johnson will release a companion double album, “SURFILMUSIC Soundtrack,” which includes the film’s original score written by him and Hermanos Gutiérrez

, as well as four-track remastered selections from Johnson's “Rodeo Clowns” on May 15.

The music includes “raw recordings and previously unreleased gems from his earliest days making music,” the release states. “Originally recorded for G. Love’s classic album ‘Philadelphonic’, this early acoustic recording of the song is now available on all streaming platforms. It follows ‘Drink The Water’ with Hermanos Gutiérrez.”

Johnson has 14.2 monthly listeners on Spotify, where you can also pre-save the upcoming album.

“Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC” is set to run in select theaters across the country starting in June. Additional screenings and events will be announced.

Jack Johnson

<title>Jack Johnson hometown tour tickets set to release</title>

Following recent flooding across the Islands, the Haleʻiwa-based musician paused ticket sales for the film premieres and concerts on May 14 and 15 in Honolulu. Starting April 16, the presale for Hawai‘i residents will launch, while remaining tickets are planned to go live on Friday, April 17. Part of the proceeds will benefit nonprofit The Lāhui Foundation to support ongoing storm recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Daily Smile: Sunday, May 24, 2026

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