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Roberts Hawaii drivers include, left to right, Juanita Ducison, David Gan, “Duke” Ducison,
Tina Scott, Julian Madamba and Ricardo Rosana.
In February 1941, the United States Fleet was
reorganized into separate Atlantic and Pacific
Fleets. The newly formed Pacific Fleet called
Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, home.
Meanwhile, that same year, in the small town
of Hanapepe on the island of Kauai, Robert
Iwamoto Sr., Chad Iwamoto’s grandfather,
started a business as an independent taxi driver
Page 10 BUSLINE January/February 2011
transporting soldiers stationed on Kauai.
The business grew and Iwamoto purchased
five more cars and started Roberts Rent-A-Car.
Iwamoto’s son, Robert Iwamoto Jr., who is the
company’s current chairman/CEO, and who is
also Chad Iwamoto’s father, joined the family
business at the age of 15.
The company purchased its first bus and
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moved its center of operations to the newly built
airport in Lihue. In 1957, the company purchased
an air-conditioned motorcoach, the first
of its kind of Kauai. In 1964, Roberts Hawaii
opened operations on Oahu, followed by expansion
to Maui and the Big Island. About the same
time, it began diversifying into areas not usually
associated with traditional motorcoach companies,
such as baggage handling services on
Oahu. The company also delved into the activities
business, offering sunset dinner cruises.
“One of the more notable things we were
involved in before my grandfather and father
migrated from Kauai to Oahu was providing
transportation during the filming of the Elvis
Presley movie, Blue Hawaii,” Chad Iwamoto
said.
Blue Hawaii was made in 1961. A large part
of the film was shot on location at the Coco
Palms Resort on the east coast of Kauai.
“In the early days, we were primarily a
motorcoach touring company. We handled
groups that would come in — arrivals and
departures – as well as tours. We were pretty
much on the smaller side,” Chad Iwamoto said.
In 1974, Roberts Hawaii purchased four luxury
motorcoaches and began competing with a
large mainland-based tour company.
“We were able to compete because of our
service abilities, techniques and the type of rela-