(instrumental music) Kalaʻi Miller:  Aloha, I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

A new year brings all  sorts of celebrations and customs and for many   people, lion dancing is a must have.

As we learn,  this ancient tradition is much more than costumes   and red envelopes.

(nats lion dance)   Brandon Lee / Hawaii Lion Dance Association: When it comes to lion dancing its   interpretation and how you present  the energy that you're feeling.

You become the lion, you don't, you don't play  the lion.

You embody this costume and show the   emotions that the lion is feeling.

(nats lion dancing)   I'm Brandon Lee.

One of the instructors  here at Hawaii Lion Dance Association.

As far as what we do it's supposed to chase away  evil spirits, bringing good luck, good fortune.

With lion dancing, I think there's a lot of  deeper meaning to it.

You're also telling a story,   you're also creating this interpretation  of what you want the viewers to see.

There's, several different stories as far as  like how lion dancing started.

But the main   one that we tend to follow is the nian beast  that was would come yearly to the village.

And   one point it was terrorizing the village every  year.

So the villagers decided one year that   they didn't want to be terrorized anymore.

So,  they, they made their own costume to mimic this   nian.

And basically used that to try and fight it  off.

And they realized that it didn't like fire,   it didn't like the color red, and didn't like  loud noises.

So, every year around the same time,   they would always perform and bring out  this creature.

So, it would scare it away.

During the Qing Dynasty, that was which was  right after the Ming Dynasty was when lion   dancing actually became more of a rebellious  thing.

A lot of the Ming followers were trying   to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and they would  use lion dancing as a way of a secret society   to pass messages as well as practice their  kung fu which they were banished from using.

After the rebellion as, as lion dancing  popularized throughout the years,   a lot of these kung fu clubs incorporated lion  dancing to show off their top martial artists   through their lion dancing.

(nats lion dancing)   Brandon Lee / Hawaii Lion Dance Association: Lion dancing consists of two people.

So,   you got to head player and you got to tail player.

The tail player, basically, you're there to be the   support --- primarily, you'll follow the head  player where he goes.

And the head player’s job   is basically to animate the movement of the eyes,  the mouth, and then also to lift the lion head so   that they can make certain movements.

​  With that lion dance and Kung Fu, the main  core parts of it is actually going to be like   the legwork and the foundation, all your  stance training.

Because that's the one   part that people see that's not under the lion.

And that helps you to understand balance, teaches   you how to do weight transfer to understand how  to flow a little bit better.

And know where you   can create power, where you generate power, load  your power, how do you transfer it.

And also,   it helps to communicate with your tail player,  because that's your visual cue to them,   is that you're doing certain stances, so  they're able to follow those stances.

(nats lion dancing) Chez Cantere / Hawaii Lion Dance Association:  Hi, my name is Chez Cantere.

I am a member of  Hawaii Lion Dance Association.

And I've been   with the club for two years now.

When I'm performing in the lion,   once I hear the music, it's like something  just clicks on, I get very excited.

When   I got into Chinese Lion dancing, I kinda  understand that the lion brought me here.

So right when I do a performance, I asked the  lion, whatever it is you want me to express,   just give me the strength to express it through  the Chinese Lion Dance.

And once I hear that   drum, it's like... (nats lion dancing)   Brandon Lee / Hawaii Lion Dance Association: The drummer’s job is to kind of lead the ensemble,   but it's also to create the heartbeat.

And  the cymbals is there to almost like create   the pulse.

And the gong is there to kind  of keep the timing of everything to hold   everything in.

The drummer's job is also to  create the spirit and the energy and as well   as the emotion through its sound and music.

The drummer has to communicate with the lion,   through its music, through its feel.

How  fast he plays, how the volume changes,   even the energy.

(nats lion dancing)   Chez Cantere / Hawaii Lion Dance Association: Okay, group two.

Same thing.

You kids looking sharp.

So, I have been in charge   of helping with teaching the cubbies.

We have our  youngest who is about four years old, and they go   up to about 12, 13 depending on their size.

To get them to work together is the biggest   challenge.

But that's also the biggest  reward.

Because once they see the final   package of teamwork, it really motivates them  to continue the training, continue to practice   and continue in just overall developing  themselves as human beings and as friends.

Brandon Lee / Hawaii Lion Dance Association: Not everybody's going to have rhythm.

But   everybody feels and if you can get that connection  creating a moment that they can understand.

I   think that's what will draw them in.

And then it's  easy for them to just stay on that wavelength,   that energy wavelength.

It's hard to it's hard to  explain it.

It's just something that you feel.

Sometimes it requires you to dig  a little bit deeper and see like,   where am I not making this connection?

Versus if  you're constantly telling the other person that   they're not making the connection.

Where do you  guys find the common ground?

So the lessons are,   goes pretty deep, if you want it to go if  you want it if you're not that at that point,   and you can just, you know, enjoy the moment and  stuff.

But I think that's where the overall goal   that I try to strive for with lion dancing.

Chez Cantere / Hawaii Lion Dance Association:  So, what I enjoy about Chinese lion dance is  that it gives us adults and children a way to   work together, create fellowship, and express  ourselves.

You know, throughout the week,   we have jobs, we have schools, and this is a  way for us to really just let loose, let go and   express this spirit that we have within us.

Brandon Lee / Hawaii Lion Dance Association:  I think it brings a brings a community  together, especially here in Hawaii.

Because Hawaii culturally, it's been adopted  to our culture, if you go to the mainland,   it's maybe not so much.

Only the people that  know about it, but generally people that are   raised here, know what lion dancing is, and though  being a Chinese cultural dance, we have a lot of   non-Chinese that's part of our group.

And at that  point, we call it Chinese Lion Dance.

But really,   it's lion dance for the people.

(nats lion dancing)   Kalaʻi Miller: Hanapēpē is known   as Kauaʻi’s biggest little town.

Located  on the southwestern side of the island,   a short turn off Kaumualiʻi Highway will lead  you to streets lined with dozens of shops,   housed in pre-World War II buildings.

One of those shops is the only dedicated   bookstore on the entire island.

Ed Justus / Talk Story Bookstore Owner:  I may be the boss of the store, but Natalie is  our CEO, and we always call her the boss.

She   lives behind the desk, (bell ringing) and she just  takes attention whenever she can get but she does   bite the hand that feeds, though.

(instrumental music)   Celeste was our original bookstore boss  cat.

She was actually my house cat before   I started the store in 2004.

When I  started the store, I moved her into   the space because I didn't have a place to live.

Originally, when I first came to Kauaʻi in 2002,   I started selling online on eBay.

I used to go to  garage sales and just pick stuff up and resell it   online for a living.

When I moved to Hanapēpē  in 2004 I got to know a landlord couple, Elsie   and Tom Godby, who had the old Shimonishi Orchid  and Feed store down the street.

They offered me a   space free for a month to start a business and  their 900 square foot retail space.

And at the   time, I thought, okay, this would be good.

I could  get the eBay stuff out of the house and just have   a spot where people can shop.

And after that first  month, I had made just enough money to either pay   the next month's rent on the store or to pay  the next month's rent on where I was living.

I   didn't really know exactly what I should do.

So, I  went over to the Hanapēpe swinging bridge down the   street, and I'm looking up at the sky, and I'm  just asking myself, what should I do?

Should I   should I do this?

Should I go ahead and take this  risk?

It means I'm going to be homeless, sleeping   in the van?

And as I asked that question, a full  double rainbow appears in the sky.

And I said,   wow, if that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

Talk Story Bookstore, basically, was all I had.

The store began to make a little bit more money  that the landlords offered me a space to rent,   to live in, in the apartment above the  shop, and so the rest is kind of history.

(instrumental music) Hi, guys.

Welcome to the bookstore.

People love doing treasure hunting.

They come  in the store, and they especially love like,   the piles of unsorted things that we haven't  quite gotten to yet.

And they'll dig around in   those boxes, which we try to keep as minimal  as possible, because we're trying to price   everything.

But I think in a way, because  I had the background of selling on eBay,   of selling anything and everything, I think the  store also allows that possibility to continue.

So in addition to books, we've got vinyl records,  we've got comic books, we've got vintage video   games, we've got retro old magazines, even vintage  cassette tapes.

There's kind of like something for   everybody here.

So whatever someone's interest  is, we try to find some way to make that section   as diverse and interesting as possible for them.

We have a system where people can bring in stuff,   they get store credit, and they can use  that towards their purchases.

And what we   do is we keep what we can, and whatever  we don't keep, we're going to donate.

There's a lot of things I'll go through  and I'll be like, Oh, this is, well,   this isn't really going to move for me, but maybe  somebody else will find that interesting.

And then   I'll find other stuff.

I'm like, Oh, wow, that's  interesting.

Or, oh, that's obscure.

Wow, that's   really strange.

I'm definitely going to carry  that.

So for us, the more unusual the better.

We've come across a lot of rare books over  the years.

It's not our specialty.

We're not   antiquarian dealers, but just being in  the nature of the book business, we do   come across stuff that's, of course, antiques  or scarce or hard to find or out of print.

The rarest book we have is a book from 1851 and  it's called the James Travelers Companion, and   it was written for wealthy East Coast Americans  who wanted to go explore the West.

And it's like   a tiny little book, but it's got fold out maps  of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River,   and there just weren't that many of them  printed.

So a book like that usually is,   like, I don't know, $2,000 right?

So it's  pretty I would say that's rare.

(laugh)   To me, business is about changing and adapting  to whatever happens in the world.

The store   has actually kind of modified itself over  the years.

One of the biggest changes was   when Borders went bankrupt in 2011.

That forced  us to then actually start carrying a lot more   new books and new releases than we had prior.

With things like Amazon and Kindles and digital   reading in general, I haven't found so much  that that has decreased sales as it has actually   expanded the reading base of people who actually  enjoy books.

Then once they really love it,   they want an archival copy.

They want that  physical copy that they can hold and share   with others.

And it's just something about our,  I suppose, our visceral nature, that something   tangible that we can hold in our hands.

We have a lot of regular customers.

For   sure.

Customers have been coming for years  and years and years, and it's interesting too,   because we get to know them, and sometimes  we see them like when they're young kids,   and then we see them become adults, and then  we see them have their own kids.

And it's   just amazing to be in one place for that long.

It's fascinating.

I've never been able to have   that kind of experience until I came here.

Hanapēpē is a really unique place in Kauaʻi.

It's one of the few towns that was not built  by the plantations, and it was actually a   town founded mostly by entrepreneurs in its  current form.

This building, for instance,   was the old Yoshiyura Store, which was a general  market that was established in 1930 and then   they moved into they built this building in 1933.

So this building's almost an antique.

I mean,   it's just got a few more years, and then  it'll cross that 100 year threshold.

(creaking floorboards) Yeah, the building has got a   lot of character.

People love the creakiness  of the floors.

They love the tall ceilings.

They love that there's areas in the floor which  aren't quite square.

You know, there's a little   bow here and there, but I think that adds to  the character of the space, the character of   the store.

And we're grateful to be here.

Our landlord, who was originally Elsie Nishi,   the Nishi Family, they're the ones who own this,  and it's, we've actually had three different   generations of the Nishi Family allow us to  continue to be here after all these years.

And yes, we are the Western most bookstore in the  United States.

Alaska does go further west than   us.

They are actually the northern, eastern  and westernmost state in the United States,   but there are no bookstores further west in  Alaska from this point.

And if somebody opened   up one next, just a little further, it's  okay.

We just put the original westernmost   bookstore.

We do what we can.

(laughs) I have great help.

I have people who have   helped me out over the years who are still working  here today.

My wife is invaluable.

I mean, she is   my inspiration every day.

In fact, the Mochi  Celeste cat stickers that you see in the shop,   those are based on our former  boss cat Celeste.

And those are   the hottest items I've ever sold in my life.

Everyone else who's helped me in the shop, they're   my inspiration too, because I didn't know anything  when I started this store, I knew nothing.

I had   no background in business.

I had no background in  books or retail.

And if it wasn't for the helping   hands and guidance of everyone else around me  over the years, they're the reasons we're here.

I've always thought books are a really great  thing.

I've always enjoyed being around   books.

I wouldn't call myself a bookie, like or a  person that's like a book addict, but I've always   had a great respect for the printed word,  freedom of press, freedom of speech.

And one   of the things that I love about selling books is  that it's a product that, 99-percent of the time,   it makes people happy.

I mean, almost all the  transactions, people are just like, Oh, I've been   looking for this book everywhere.

This is so great  that you have this and it's just amazing to be in   a business that makes people feel satisfied and  happy.

It's not just fulfilling a basic need.

It's   fulfilling something deeper inside them that's  feeding who they are.

That's incredible.

You know,   it's an honor to be in a business like that.

(instrumental music)   Kalaʻi Miller: Whether it’s the holidays,   a birthday celebration or just an ordinary  night, many consider pie, the quintessential   comfort dessert.

And for the family-owned  Hawaiian Pie Company, baking is a skill   that has been passed down for generations.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian Pie   Company Operations Manager: I would honestly say that what makes a   good pie is the crust, right?

Like, it all starts  from there.

That's like the foundation of any,   any good pies.

Like, if you have a good  crust, you're, you're in a good spot.

My name is Andrew Chun-Hori.

I am the  operations manager at the Hawaiian Pie   Company.

Fourth generation.

I guess  lead baker at the company as well.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder: I'm Joel Hori and one of the co-founders of the   Hawaiian Pie Company along with my wife, Jan.  My grandfather's name was Yoshio Hori.

He's   the founder of Holy's Bakery in Kapaʻau.

The military in the area needed bread.

And   there was no bake shops or anything around.

I  couldn't believe how big it is.

Because you see   these pictures right here.

That's a there's a lot  of machinery and equipment.

And it's industrial.

And this is back in the 40s you know.

And I don't  know how my grandfather did that, but he did.

So my grandfather ordered the packaging on the  telephone, is speaking to a American guy.

And   he said his last name was Hori.

And he wanted  Hori's on top there.

So the guy assume Japanese   guys rolled the R, so made it Holy.

And when all  everything came in, you know, rather than trying   to pack it all up and send it back, he said,  well, let's just let's just go with this.

After the order the bread things started dying  down, he sold off a lot of the equipment,   and then just became a regular bakery for the town  of Kohala.

And then he developed this formula for   the frozen apple pie.

By that time, we had already  moved.

We're living in Michigan I think I was in   the fifth grade, I think.

And then he called my  dad, told my dad, you know, it's getting kind   of busy.

And my grandpa was getting older.

So he  said if you could come back and help.

So we did.

I grew up in that bakery working in that  bakery.

My dad one day when I was 19,   I mean I was going UH Hilo.

But you know, I  saw how hard he was working.

He told me hey,   thinking about moving to Honoulu, you want to  come with me?

I loved diving.

I loved hunting,   fishing.

So, all that I was gonna give  up.

But then I thought I'd regret it if   I didn't go and help him.

So, I came down  with him and we had Holy's Bakery Manoa.

It's rough.

You know?

We You need funding and  stuff you know for equipment and stuff.

So it   is hard to kind of continue.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian   Pie Company Operations Manager: I didn't really know too much about it going   like growing up because a lot of the things  that the baking side of my family they were   all on the Big Island with Holy's Bakery.

I don't even think Holy's Bakery Mānoa was still   around by the time I showed up so for me that  was kind of like a lost history that I ended up   discovering when we decided to open up again.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder:  During Christmas times, everybody  at the facility would make you know,   gift baskets, presents for everybody.

So, I decided let's go make pie.

So that's what we started to do at our house.

We'd be making these passion pear pies.

So, right   after Thanksgiving, you know, all my friends from  work, so Joel, when are we coming to the house to   pick up the pies?

You know, that's all they cared  about was coming to pick up the pies at the house,   so we figured, they must be enjoying the pies.

So we kind of knew we had something there.

And then after I retired she made the suggestion  hey, why don't we open one shop.

So I kind of was   hesitant, because then you know how much work it  was going be.

But I slept one night and my gramps,   he kind of came to me so I was like, I guess this  is what we got to do, you know, because but I   don't see him a lot, you know?

So, The Hawaiian Pie Company   opened in 2014 in December.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian Pie   Company Operations Manager: Honestly I had I had no   thought of baking or being a baker.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder:  For us, it wasn't a matter of trying to convince  him.

It's the relationship he had with his   grandpa.

Kind of brought him into the fold.

My dad  pretty much hand taught him everything.

I mean,   I'm I'm like an elementary school baker and my  son's like graduate in the college already because   my dad taught him a lot.

And he absorbed it.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian Pie   Company Operations Manager: Seeing my grandpa in the bakery   was like it's seeing him in his element kind  of thing.

And I was, you know, it was like,   seeing a completely different person from who I  grew up with and things like that.

And that was   like, it was awesome.

Especially because some  of the things that he did were just seemed like   second nature to him, even though whenever I  would try to follow along and things like that,   like, didn't always turn out the same way.

A lot of the original recipes that we started   out with when we first opened up were  from from Holy's Bakery from my great   grandfather and my grandpa and all them.

And I don't know if this was just from all   the years that he was baking and things like  that.

But he would always write everything   down.

Sometimes he would write it down multiple  times.

And then sometimes I would check all the   times that he wrote down the same recipe, and  I would notice that they're never the same.

So that was like the ongoing joke that I had  with like, my, my dad and my uncle, like down   the line.

I was just like, wait, so which recipe  are we using, like, because they're all kind of   similar, but they're all kind of different.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder:  All the recipes for the pies that you see the  Mānoa Valley signature on top.

That's pretty   much stuff that my dad created.

And then after  that, the passion pear and the caramel apple   were also created in our house.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian Pie   Company Operations Manager: Our best selling pie I would   have to say it would be the  Hawaiian Passion Pear.

For me,   that was the one that kind of blew me away.

That was one of the recipes that my my mom   and my dad came up with before we even opened  the bakery.

That was the one that kind of like,   opened my eyes to like, wow, you can really get  some some crazy flavors going on inside of a pie.

So that that one always has like a special place  in my heart as like my favorite.

There's a lot   that are creeping up there.

But you know, like,  it's never going to dethrone it yet.

Not yet at   least.

Maybe I can make something but we'll see.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder:  There's so much trial and error, you know,  per pie that you make, that it can be a little   bit tiresome to try to come up with a new  flavor.

My son, he's he's been amazing at   finding and, and manipulating different flavors.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company   Operations Manager: Pretty much my entire   immediate family has some some role in this  whole business.

Even though my my two siblings,   they have their own jobs and things like that  they find time to help out wherever they can.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder: To do an endeavor like this, it has to have   love inside, I mean, my wife, my daughter, my  oldest boy, my son in law, everybody's in there.

We're not forcing anybody here.

Andrew Chun-Hori / Hawaiian   Pie Company Operations Manager: Initially, I didn't know what I was   gonna get out of it, I thought maybe, you know,  just going over there, physical labor, you know,   help out the family, things like that.

And as  I started to work, and work with my family and   things like that, I started to, you know, develop  that connection with them with what we're doing.

And I started to kind of have a different  outlook on things.

I looked at a lot of the   things that we're doing, and, you know, I would  realize that this is, this is stuff that shoot,   my great grandfather, kind of started up.

And  here I am today, what, 50, 60 years down the road,   and I'm kind of, you know, following in those  footsteps, and I'm being led down that path by,   you know, my grandpa, and my dad and my uncle.

And  these are all things that were made possible by,   you know, my mom and my dad making this  making this space.

Not necessarily for   me, but just making this space available.

Joel Hori / Hawaiian Pie Company Co-Founder:  We having fun, you know, while we're here,  everybody that, get comes in here is becomes   family.

Most of the workers here is like my good  brothers that I knew growing up, and they retired.

They got nothing to do.

So hey, I'll come hang  out with you.

Okay.

Sure.

Come on over.

So we   got to retirees in here and then we get young  kids from high school coming in.

And so they   got all bunch of uncles in the back helping them  out.

So this really is a labor of love this shop.

Kalaʻi Miller: Mahalo for joining us.

PBS Hawaiʻi   continues the tradition of storytelling, because  of your generosity.

If you’d like to support our   mission, please visit PBS Hawaii dot org and  click on the donate button.

For Home is Here,   I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

A hui hou.

Chez Cantere:  It's a back-and-forth communication to where  sometimes, as the performer in the lion, I'll give   certain gestures, and the drum will play a certain  beat.

Sometimes the drum will play a certain beat,   and I will have to do a certain gesture.

So,  it's a back-and-forth flow that almost becomes   a game for the kids.

So, they really get in tune  with it.

It’s, it really catches their attention,   so it’s much easier to teach.

Ed Justus:  Natalie rings the bell for treats.

So,  we're in the middle of a transaction,   and we hear ding, ding, ding, and we're  like, okay, all right, here you go.

She eats a few, rings some more, goes back  to sleep for the next six hours.

It's hard   being the boss.

Joel Hori:  Pretty much our product, guys would buy  it, take it to a party.

The guy who bought   it, it's familiar with it.

Seven other  guys eat a piece of the pie and they go,   Hey, where you got that from and then  we've got seven new customers now.

The Hawaiʻi people you know, they'll read it,  and they'll kind of be a little bit interested   but if they hear it directly from somebody, Oh,  braddah, I went this place oh was so ono the   food.

You gotta go over there.

You gonna go right  pretty much because you trust that guy's palette.