Robert Koji Onodera was born at 2PM on August 5th, 1937 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was the first child of Mary Yukiko Onodera and Kenji Onodera. His sister, Tamiko, was born three years later. Their first home was on Kukui Lane, in Honolulu. Later, the family moved to their house on Pacific Heights Road.
Bob was about five years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He saw the Zeros coming in low over Diamond Head and ran out to watch them fly over. He thought it was cool and exciting. His father, Kenji, was “freaking out”, running around the house in a panic, but Bob stood and watched the planes fly overhead.
Bob went to Kaimuki High School. He loved surfing and hanging out at the beach. His surfboard was made of solid redwood. It was 4 inches thick and over 9 feet long. It took two guys to carry it down to the beach and then they would take turns surfing on it.
Bob was in a band with his friend Saichi Kawahara. He played congas. He was also the band’s driver, since he was the only one who had a car, a Mini Cooper.
After he graduated from high school, in 1955, Bob attended University of Hawaii. There, he met friends who played music. His friend Nancy Yamachi sang and her husband Roy played the drums in a jazz group. Bob really fell in love with music, especially jazz. He played congas and guitar.
After two years at UH, Bob left for Chicago to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana.
Bob loved the city of Chicago. He worked in restaurants, where he learned about food and wine. He immersed himself in jazz and art.
During the summers, Bob visited his cousins Dennis and Judy Kanegae in Santa Ana. Judy remembers that Bob would take a bus, train, or hitchhike out to California from Chicago. She thinks that he even jumped a freight train one or two times and rode it all the way from Chicago to Santa Ana. Bob was with the Kanegaes when he met June Wada. June described taking a short cut through an artichoke field and seeing a very handsome young man walking towards her through the mist.
June and Bob were married in 1960 and moved to Berkeley, California.
Bob and June lived on Berkeley Way and later, Sutter Street just before the Tunnel. Lisa was born in 1961 and Suzanne in 1964.
I remember the time on Berkeley Way. We had parties in the backyard. There was a giant fig tree out there. I used to wait for Dad to come home from work every night, sitting at the window and staring out at the street until he pulled in. He wore crisp white shirts, horn-rimmed glasses, and a black tie. On the weekends, I loved lying on the floor in a rectangle of sunlight with him while he read the Sunday “funnies” to me.
- Lisa Onodera
In 1976 or ’77, Bob called and said his partner was moving out of his woodworking studio in Berkeley. Would I be interested in taking it over? I think I drove up to take a look. It was an old store front on Dwight Way with a live-in area in the back. His friend had built a kitchen with cabinets and installed what looked like an English telephone booth as a shower. (Anyone who showered could be seen from the living area.)
This new space helped me on my way to producing ceramics for orders and exhibitions. I can only guess that it was Bob’s conversations with my mom that helped make this valuable connection.
- Ann Enkoji
