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Artist, TV fishing show host Mike Sakamoto dies at 59

Mike Sakamoto on Oct. 8, 2005 while painting a wall surrounding the construction site of new State Judiciary building across the Hilo Lagoon Center. Photo by Rick Ogata/Special to Hawaii 24/7

Mike Sakamoto on Oct. 8, 2005 while painting a wall surrounding the construction site of new State Judiciary building across the Hilo Lagoon Center. Photo by Rick Ogata/Special to Hawaii 24/7

By Baron Sekiya/Hawaii247.com

Hilo resident and TV fishing show icon Mike Sakamoto passed away Tuesday night on Oahu where he was being treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Sakamoto produced, videoed and hosted the longtime show ‘Fishing Tales with Mike Sakamoto,’ which was televised in Hawaii and syndicated nationally via The Outdoor Channel.

Sakamoto authored books on fishing, cooking and in later years was an artist on the Big Island working mostly in watercolors and oils. Sakamoto’s artwork can be found at http://www.hawaiiart.com/artist/mike_sakamoto.php

Sakamoto also taught painting at Kamana Senior Center in Hilo and taught a fishing class through University of Hawaii-Hilo’s continuing education program.

Sakamoto was 59 years-old is survived by wife Kathleen and children Paul and Stefanie Sakamoto; mother Peggy Murashima; sisters Pauline Higa, Paula Igawa and Jan Kodani.

‘Born and raised on Oahu, local artist Mike Sakamoto now lives and paints on the Big Island where he has lived since he was 17 years old,’ according to his biography on www.hawaiiart.com. A graduate of McKinley High School, he attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo and UH-Manoa, where he majored in fine arts. He also studied with potter and watercolorist Charles Higa of Honolulu.

His primary focus as an artist was on real-life scenes of Hawaii and its local people, using strong and bright colors. Scenes with flowers and other colorful items set the stage for some large format oils on canvas in the 30 – 40 inch size.

A blog post about Sakamoto can be found here by his niece.

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