After the attack on Pearl Harbor the Hata family was part of the Japanese American internment . In September 1942 ( during the Second World War ) the Hata Building was seized and later auctioned by the U.S. government . Hata 's second daughter , Kagawa Kasujiro , purchased the building at that time . Because it was so solidly built , it survived the tsunami caused by the April 1 , 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake that devastated much of Hilo . The train tracks of the Hawaii Consolidated Railway were destroyed in that tsunami , so the building now is on the commercial street nearest the ocean . The path of the railroad was used for the new Hawaii Belt Road ( state route 19 ) , called the Waterfront Highway at this point
1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake
1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake
S. Hata Building