Tamashiro Market
802 N King St, Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-8047
https://tamashiromarket.com/
Neighborhood: Kalihi
History
“The first Tamashiro Market was opened on Kamehameha Ave. in Hilo, Hawaii on May 1, 1941 by immigrants Chogen and Yoshiko Tamashiro. Back then, it was a small store specializing in fresh pork from livestock farmed by the Tamashiro family. When a tsunami struck on April 1, 1946 and demolished most of Hilo’s business district including the family’s store, Chogen worked quickly to reopen at a new location on Keawe St. within a week. Feeling that another tsunami would threaten his family’s safety, Chogen made plans to move to Oahu, and on June 11th of the following year, relocated his family and opened Tamashiro Market in an existing building on North King St. in Honolulu.
Chogen and Yoshiko’s older son Walter Hajime Tamashiro took over the operation of Tamashiro Market in 1954 and saw an opportunity to build the business with seafood as a specialty. He started with a few pieces of opelu, then a whole aku (skipjack tuna). The few pieces of fish grew to tubs of fish, larger fish and dozens of varieties. Walter then began sourcing live Samoan Crabs, live Spiny Lobsters and live Kona Crabs. Brother Johnny Tamashiro and brother-in-law Larry Konishi joined Walter in 1962, and together expanded Tamashiro Market’s reputation for high quality fresh fish and live shellfish by carrying air-flown live Dungeness Crabs, Maine Lobsters, Blue Crabs, oysters and clams from the east and west coasts.
Today, Walter’s sons Cyrus and Guy continue the family tradition of offering the best of the ocean’s bounty for Hawaii’s consumers. Tamashiro Market is located at 802 North King Street. In addition to offering fish direct from local fishermen and the fish auction, Tamashiro Market takes pride in its great selection of LIVE and FRESH seafood air-flown from around the world. Tamashiro Market was one of the first retailers to sell poke on a large scale and has offered over 30 preparations since the 1970s. Tamashiro emphasizes fresh local fish in its poke, not previously frozen imported fish. At Tamashiro Market, the fish in our poke is not just “freshly made” it is FRESH!”
