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Yosihiko H. Sinoto

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Yosihiko H. Sinoto
Born(1924-09-03)September 3, 1924
DiedOctober 4, 2017(2017-10-04) (aged 93)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi alumni
Hokkaido University
University of California
Scientific career
FieldsAnthrapology
InstitutionsBishop Museum

Yosihiko H. Sinoto (September 3, 1924 – October 4, 2017) was a Japanese-born American anthropologist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii.[1] He is known for his anthropological expeditions throughout the Pacific, particularly Hawaii and French Polynesia.[2]

Biography

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Sinoto was born in Tokyo in 1924. After World War II ended, he went to study at the University of California, but was recruited to be anthropologist Kenneth Emory's research assistant before he got there.[3] In 1954 he moved to Hawaii, where he began his archaeological work at South Point on Hawaii. In 1960 he went to Tahiti, in French Polynesia.[4]

He graduated as Bachelor of Arts at the University of Hawaiʻi in 1958 and he acquired his DSc at the University of Hokkaido in Japan in 1962.[5]

In 1964-5 he excavated Hane in the Marquesas Islands, where he discovered more than 12,000 bird bones. Nearly 10,000 of them are reported to belong to about seven species of shearwaters and petrels.[6] [7] On the island of Huahine, where he worked for 40 years, he helped to restore and preserve the prehistoric village of Maeva with its temple ruins, or marae. In 1977 he discovered the remnants of a deep-sea voyaging canoe.[8] Sinoto's further expeditions led him to the Society Islands, Marquesas, Tuamotus and others, where he studied the settlements, artifacts, migration patterns and Polynesian cultural ties.[2][9]

Though he officially retired in 2013, Sinoto continued to work until his death on October 4, 2017.[10]

Yosihiko Sinoto's wife, Kazuko Sinoto, who died in 2013, was a historian of Japanese immigration.[11] His son, Akihiko, was an archaeologist at the Bishop Museum.

Honors

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Hibiscus Sir Yosihiko Sinoto, a hybrid created by Jill Coryell to honor Sinoto, was unveiled in 2007.

Sinoto is honored as a Tahitian chevalier (knight) of the Order of Tahiti Nui in 2000[12] and the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays.[13] He also was awarded the Society of Hawaiian Archaeology's Naki‘ikeaho Cultural Stewardship Award, the Bishop Museum's Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal, and the Historic Hawaii Foundation's lifetime achievement award. He was also named a Living Treasure of Hawaii.[14]

Sinoto's lorikeet (Vini sinotoi), an extinct lorikeet species in the Marquesas Islands, and Sir Yosihiko Sinoto, a hybrid variety of hibiscus, are both named for him.[15]

Bibliography

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  • Emory, Kenneth P.; Sinoto, Yosihiko H. (1969). "Age of the sites in the South Point area, Ka'u, Hawaii". Pacific Anthropological Records (8). ISSN 0078-740X. LCCN 71029054. OCLC 659366796.

Further reading

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  • Stewart, Frank; Nagado, Madoka (2016). Curve of the Hook: An Archaeologist in Polynesia. Honolulu, Hawaii: UH Press. ISBN 978-0824866235.

References

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  1. ^ "Anthropology Department Staff - Yosihiko Sinoto". Honolulu, HI, USA: Bishop Museum. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Ritz, Mary Kaye (April 9, 2006). "Devoted to making discoveries". Honolulu, HI, USA: Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  3. ^ "In memory: Anthropologist Sinoto's work key to understanding Polynesian migration". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "Roy and Ann Rappaport with archaeologist Yosih..." UC San Diego Library | Digital Collections. June 22, 1960. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  5. ^ Sinoto, Yosihiko H. (April 24, 2009). "Huahine: heritage of the great navigators". Museum International. 35 (1): 70–73. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0033.1983.tb00431.x. ISSN 1350-0775.
  6. ^ Reaka-Kudla, Marjorie L.; Wilson, Don E.; Wilson, Edward O. (September 30, 1996). Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources. Joseph Henry Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-309-52075-1.
  7. ^ David W. Steadman (October 15, 2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-0-226-77142-7.
  8. ^ Altonn, Helen (June 3, 2007). "Museum anthropologist's latest honor is a hibiscus". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  9. ^ Ferrar, Derek (October–November 2003), "Marae Mysteries", Hana Hou!, vol. 6, no. 5, photo by Linny Morris Cunningham, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States: Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., retrieved September 24, 2012
  10. ^ Star-Advertiser, Honolulu. "DR. YOSIHIKO SINOTO « Honolulu Hawaii Obituaries - Hawaii Newspaper Obituaries". obits.staradvertiser.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  11. ^ "Kazuko Sinoto obituary". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. August 23, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  12. ^ "Arrêté n° 862 PR du 13/06/2000" [Decree No. 862 of June 13, 2000 PR] (in French). Retrieved September 22, 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ Betty, Lou Kam (November 14, 2017), "Remembrance – Aloha Oe to a Pacific Soul, Dr. Yoshiko Sinoto", The Hawaii Herald
  14. ^ Tanigawa, Noe. "An Ear for Artifacts: Yosihiko Sinoto". Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  15. ^ Altonn, Helen (June 3, 2007), "Museum anthropologist's latest honor is a hibiscus - Yosihiko Sinoto has studied ancient Pacific cultures for decades", The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, vol. 12, no. 154, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States: Oahu Publications, retrieved September 24, 2012
  • Robert D. Craig, Russell T. Clement: Who's who in Oceania, 1980-1981. Institute for Polynesian Studies, Brigham Young University—Hawaii Campus, 1980 ISBN 978-0-939154-13-5
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