Catch up with ʻukulele virtuosos Roy Sakuma, Jake Shimabukuro and Taimane Gardner and learn how they act as ambassadors of this beloved instrument.

it’s no secret that Roy Sakuma dropped out of high school. And, as the story goes, he went to work for the City Parks Department and came up with the idea for an ukulele festival while cleaning restrooms at the Kapi‘olani Park Bandstand. In this Part 2 program, Sakuma reveals for the first time publicly, that he was raised in a home with serious, untreated mental illness. Sakuma tells about his family and his school days. And how he became a teacher.

Roy Sakuma is a name that belongs to an ukulele studio, an ukulele festival, summer zoo concerts, an award-winning record label, Hawaii’s foremost ukulele teacher and a man who’s lived his entire life hiding a family secret. Sakuma tells about his family and his school days. And how he became a teacher.

Why Hawaiʻi Ukulele Festival founder Roy Sakuma says it’s important not to dwell on the negative.