HONOLULU – It’s hard to miss the green building on South King Street.
For decades, Precision Radio has been the go-to place for electronics, offering everything from meters to television tubes.
The company was founded by Dorris and Harris Tarumoto following the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor. Harris ran a fishing supply store. In fact, he was out fishing when the Japanese attacked.
“By the time he got home, the MPs where there already,” said Milton Hironaka, Harris’ son-in-law. “They interned him because he was a ham radio operator.”
Released after 10 days in the interment camp, Tarumoto decided to go into electronics.
“And it’s amazing because his number one customers were going to be the defense people, and he looks just like the enemy,” said Hironaka. “So he managed to call on those people and sell to them. It was his personality. You know his personality was either you like him or you dislike him. You know? The old style.”