“THE show is meant to show the beauty of the land and the people all at the same time,” said writer-photographer and veteran journalist Floyd K. Takeuchi, who recently brought his illustrated presentation, “Tropical Light,” to the CNMI.
“My heart has always been in the Pacific. I made the decision when I was in college to focus my career on the Pacific and do the best I could…. It’s been a conscious choice to do Pacific work. I made the choice in 2010 to switch to photography primarily, although I still do some writing to tell the stories that I thought needed to be told and weren’t being told,” he shared in an interview with Variety.
“Tropical Light” features seven portfolios, inspired by an ongoing show in Japan that is based on photographs he took in Chuuk, primarily of the Chuuk Lagoon and Xavier High School in Weno, Chuuk.
“I did both projects separately, but combined them for the show. The Chuuk Lagoon shots were done on commission for the L5 Hotel, which is there by the airport. The Xavier project was a personal project for me in 2010,” said Takeuchi.
The illustrated presentation placed special emphasis on the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Takeuchi’s published work includes Majuro: Essays from an Atoll, School on the Hill: Micronesia’s Remarkable Xavier High School, Pasefika: The Festival of Pacific Arts, Many Voices, and One Dream: From Mokko to Palau Community College.
Born and raised in the Marshall Islands, Takeuchi has been a journalist for more than 45 years, focusing his career on capturing the beauty, traditions, and values of the Pacific isles.
“I did it with a conscious decision to focus on stories that had [these] three values…and try my best to tell the stories through those perspectives with images,” he said.
Takeuchi graduated cum laude from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism.
He said he was fortunate enough to have received a scholarship through the East-West Center to delve into Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawaii.
He has worked as a reporter at Pacific Daily News on Guam, managing editor for The Daily Post in Suva, Fiji; as a reporter, editor, radio and television anchor and publisher in Hawaii and Japan; and as a senior staffer for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
Takeuchi began his career on Saipan in 1974 as a college intern at the Micronesian News Service, a news service during the Trust Territory era.
But his ties to the island began even before this, with his parents who were U.S. federal civil service employees with the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
“My family moved there in 1964. My parents were with the Trust Territory government. They were in the Marshalls in the 1950s,” he said.
His parents were on Saipan until they retired from service in 1982.
Takeuchi attended San Roque Elementary School and Hopwood Junior High School for a short time before relocating to and spending most of his life in Hawaii, his current place of residence.
He said his last visit to the CNMI was seven years ago.
“It was good to be back. Some things are very familiar, to be with people I knew, familiar foods, and reminded once again that there’s never been a party in the Marianas that didn’t have a place in its heart for carbohydrates; lots of them. But I think of the Marianas using the 5 F’s: faith — strong churchgoing traditions there, family, food, and fiestas. And there’s a fifth F: foil. So, that’s how I viewed my time back there. It was great,” he said.
He added, “I was reminded that there were two things on Saipan: it was both very familiar and very different. The ‘different’ was how many abandoned buildings there are these days. It’s a real eyesore, but it’s a reminder that times were much better before in some ways. I think that the Marianas has a chance to reinvent itself in ways that are better for the locals in the long run, so I think the outlook is positive for the future.”
Takeuchi said he is especially excited to see local journalists telling the story of their people through local eyes.
“I’m really excited to see that there are reporters…who are from the islands who are choosing to take the hard step to settle into an industry that is changing very dramatically right around us. But you will tell the story of your people through local eyes, and that’s really important. It’s one thing for even someone like me who was born and raised in the islands to tell the story, but it’s never going to be the truly local perspective no matter how much longer I live in the islands. Having someone who comes from a local family with local roots, telling the story is a huge deal, a big deal, and it’s very exciting to see that. I would tell them… to hang in there. It’s a great profession. It’s changed dramatically since when I started in 1977, but it’s still a very honorable profession that’s important,” he said.
“Tropical Light” was presented free of charge and live from American Memorial Park’s indoor theater at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, hosted by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council.
For more on Takeuchi, visit https://floydtakeuchi.com/books
Floyd K. Takeuchi presents “Tropical Light” at American Memorial Park’s indoor theater on April 27, 2022.
