HBuzz

Back in 1996, in Japan, Steven Caires started posting on his Web page Japanese advertisements that misused English and made unintended and senseless statements. Advertisements like "Ouchi Dental Clinic" or a snack slogan that said the product's "rich flavor will bring happiness to your pockets." Caires explains Japanese businesses in Japan use English to make their products or companies look modern and hip. The businesses often don't intend for the English to be read literally. The results to Caires were hilarious.

Caires, 38, says his intention was to post photographs, of what he calls Engrish, just for his friends. But slowly interest built in his Web page; people started sending him photographs of their favorite advertisements. By the time he moved back to Hawaii, in 1999, Caires decided to register his own site, called www.engrish.com. By 2002, he was coaxed by site visitors into selling Engrish slogans on such items as T-Shirts and mouse pads. Caires, who studied and lived in Japan for 10 years, adds his Web site is designed to be jocular, not condescending. "It could easily turn into something that is insulting," he says.

This past year, his hobby took another leap forward as a business when he landed a book deal with Penguin Books in the United Kingdom and the United States. The British book, called "The Joys of Engrish," is a hard cover with 200 pages and went on sale in October. The 100-page U.S. version went on sale Dec. 29 for $11.95, though his Web site and Amazon.com sell it at a discount.

Caires declined to discuss the amount of income he derives from the Web site, which gets 8 million unique visitors per year, or the book deals. "I could quit my day job, but I want to diversify my income. Like anything in entertainment, it can disappear in a couple years," says Caires, who also runs a small marketing business called Island Creative, which caters to Japanese clients.

-Scott Radway

– Harry Matsuno, Safeguard Services, on the secrets of a successful small business at the annual Small Business Hawaii conference.

Boy Wonder

As the 1965 Easter Seals' national poster boy, Alan Nagao not only got to meet a Duke but also a president. For four months, the four year-old traveled across the country, meeting with President Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office and taking a special tour (with body guards) of Disneyland.

More than 40 years later, Nagao, who was born without a right leg and several finger on his right hand, has little memory of his year-long reign as child spokesperson, but he will never forget the many years of help and encouragement he received from officials at the non-profit organization, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in Hawaii this year.

Flying High: (top): Four-year-old Alan Nagao with Duke Kahanamoku in 1965. (right): Today, with sons Evan (left) and Aidan. photo: Scott Kubo, courtesy of Easter Seals

Not only did Easter Seals teach Nagao how to walk but how to fly … literally. He would eventually open High Performance Kites, a local hobby institution, before re-igniting the yo-yo craze in Hawaii and Japan in the '90s —selling 10.5 million of the toys worldwide.

"I think the common perception of Easter Seals is of an organization that takes care of disabled people for their entire life," says Nagao. "They really look at what I could do rather than what I couldn't do. That sets you on the right path and the right way of thinking from the start. You can do a lot more that way."

A reunion event for Easter Seals families is planned for April 23, 2006. Call 536-1015 for more information.

-David K. Choo

2005 was a banner year for business – and for tax collection. But it wasn't just the good times that brought the money in. The Hawaii Department of Taxation has been more and more aggressive collecting its taxes. So as you prepare this year's tax forms, here's a look at last year's numbers:

Neighborhood Watch:
Kaimuki
Exploring the Islands from the ground up

Kaimuki has seen a tremendous amount of economic activity lately. For a while now, it’s been a hot dining spot for East Honolulu: Big City Diner started in Kaimuki and now has multiple locations, Town restaurant has re-invigorated its end of Waialae Avenue and the 12th Avenue Grill has done the same up the street. Meanwhile, retail is following close behind. Toys n’ Joys just expanded from a 1,000-square-foot space to a 5,000 square foot one, and a number of apparel shops are filling in. That’s how redevelopment usually works out: come to eat, stay and shop. That’s how a lot of malls are configured.”

– Mike Hamasu, director of consulting and research, Colliers Monroe Friedlander Consulting (CMF Consulting)