This statue of King David Kalākaua (1836-1891) was commissioned by the Oʻahu Kanyaku Imin Centennial Committee on behalf of the Japanese-American community in 1985 in observance of the arrival of the first ship carrying 944 Kanyaku Imin, or government- contract immigrants, from Japan to Hawaii on February 8, 1885. To work on the sugar plantations.

King Kalākaua visited Japan in May. 1881, on his trip around the world, and appealed to Emperor Meiji to send immigrants to Hawaiʻi to relieve the shortage of laborers on the sugar plantations. This resulted in the signing of the Japan-Hawaiʻi Labor Convention. Japanese numbering 220,000 immigrated to Hawaiʻi from 1885 to 1924 when the oriental exclusion act was enacted by Congress of the United States.

The Japanese-Americans, who are descendants of these immigrants, have been successful in numerous fields and prospered here in Hawaiʻi. The King is honored as the “Father of Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi.” This statue is a symbol of appreciation and Aloha to King Kalākaua, a visionary monarch, for inviting their forebears to Hawaiʻi.