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Not everyone is upset about the situation. George Kanahele, a vice president of the Hawaii Corp., a financial conglomerate, says: "The Japanese investors provide needed capital for a perennially money-short economy, as well as jobs for our local labor and revenues for our hard-up government coffers." For their part, the Japanese have been surprised by all the fuss. After discussions with a delegation of concerned Hawaiian businessmen in Tokyo, some of the Japanese investors agreed that they had to mix more with the Hawaiians and become more involved in community affairs and projects.
The criticism, however, is not waning. The Hawaii Civic Association has condemned foreign purchases of real estate. Endorsing the association's resolution, The Hawaiian League of Conservation Voters declared: "No more Japanese syndicates."