In today's paper a letter writer pointed out the REAL Hawaii the one filled with homelessness. Unfortunately tourists contribute to people pollution, air pollution, land pollution, and noise pollution. Therefore think twice before visiting Hawaii. You may be contributing to killing Hawaii. That is one of the reasons why while I "own" property in Hawaii I refuse to contribute to the pollution and live primarily on the continental U.S. since the ecosystem in Hawaii is extremely extremely fragile. In an ideal world I would want a moratorium placed on immigration to the islands. Unfortunately no politician is willing to stand up for the ecosystem. This includes the Nature Conservancy. Its own members in Hawaii should boot themselves out of Hawaii since THEY contribute to pollution in the Hawaiian Islands. Anyway about the real Hawaii:



HOMELESSNESS

REAL HAWAI'I IS OFTEN KEPT FROM TOURISTS

Many Japanese people visit Hawai'i every year, especially in the summer. Hawai'i is one of the most popular vacation destinations for Japanese people. There are many attractive places. People enjoy marine sports, shopping and sightseeing.

Do people who visit Hawai'i really know about Hawai'i? They might know only a few things. There are many guidebooks for tourists about Hawai'i, so people can get information about tourist resorts easily. But people do not have enough opportunity to know about real Hawai'i life and history. If people know about them before they visit Hawai'i, their trip could become more meaningful.

Before I came to Hawai'i, I read a guidebook and a concise Hawaiian history book. But I could not get information fully. One thing that surprised me after I came here is that there are many homeless people in Hawai'i. Most people who come to Hawai'i do not notice that many people are without shelter.

Rumiko Nakamoto
Honolulu



Seen at http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051107/OPINION02/511070343/1104