Len Kojima was Hawaii 50 here.. his passion for the ukulele is unsurpassed and his impact on the ukulele community runs wide and deep.
Rest In Peace! I wish I got to know you sooner and met you more often..
The worldwide ukulele ohana has lost a great friend in Len Kojima, who lost a years-long battle with colon cancer. I never met Len in person, but he was on these forums when I joined 10 years ago, and his posts were always informative. He and I messaged each other a few times regarding ukuleles, and he was always very kind and respectful. He was a great man and a great ambassador of peace, love, & 'ukulele.
I haven’t posted in a long time but I came to post this.
I remember seeing Len on the forums for years, turns out I met him on accident during a Hawaii trip in 2019. I was at Hawaii Music Supply and he walked in and just started talking. We talked for a bit and I still just thought he was some friendly man who I didn’t know. I played a few songs with Corey, posted the video here of us playing and what do you know… Len comes into the thread and tells me that he met me earlier that day. I’ll never forget it. I wish I had known it was him when we talked, but even as a “stranger” he was just so natural to talk to. What a guy. He will be missed.
I haven’t posted in a long time but I came to post this.
I remember seeing Len on the forums for years, turns out I met him on accident during a Hawaii trip in 2019. I was at Hawaii Music Supply and he walked in and just started talking. We talked for a bit and I still just thought he was some friendly man who I didn’t know. I played a few songs with Corey, posted the video here of us playing and what do you know… Len comes into the thread and tells me that he met me earlier that day. I’ll never forget it. I wish I had known it was him when we talked, but even as a “stranger” he was just so natural to talk to. What a guy. He will be missed.
Like others have written before me I met Len through the forum. He loved the ukulele and everything associated with it, he embodied the Aloha spirit. We messaged each other from time to time and he was always kind and thoughtful. He will be sorely missed.
I haven’t posted in a long time but I came to post this.
I remember seeing Len on the forums for years, turns out I met him on accident during a Hawaii trip in 2019. I was at Hawaii Music Supply and he walked in and just started talking. We talked for a bit and I still just thought he was some friendly man who I didn’t know. I played a few songs with Corey, posted the video here of us playing and what do you know… Len comes into the thread and tells me that he met me earlier that day. I’ll never forget it. I wish I had known it was him when we talked, but even as a “stranger” he was just so natural to talk to. What a guy. He will be missed.
That's how I met him too, at Kaka'ako HMS store where he was building a uke. We had a good talk about ukes and he also mentioned his cancer. A short encounter but enough to make a lasting impression. I did not realize he was a member until I posted about my visit and he mentioned that we had met.
I met Len through this forum and he was so kind and helpful ... a gentle, positive force.
From Hawaii, he introduced me to a fellow Canadian who is a world class luthier ... in my home town! I now own one of the luthier's Ukes and I will think of him when I play it.
The Ukulele world is small and the loss of his kind voice will be significant.
I met Len in either '11 or '12 when we both took Ukulele lessons in San Jose. We became good friends. UU has changed a lot, but back in the early teens, it was a place of lots of Aloha and good will and Len was a large part of that. If you had the chance to meet him, you met a rare gem.
I already posted a memory on FB and while I have many, many more, my thoughts boil down to 2 salient points. 1. I am a better person because I knew him. 2. He will be greatly missed.
My thoughts and prayers to all of his family and friends, of which there are many.
Len always called me "his brother in ukes" because we had Moore Bettahs built at the sametime or one after the other, I forget. He and Stan were always there for any reason. This is really a shock reading he passed. May he rest in peace and join the ukers who previously passed.
Back around 2015-2017 we interacted via PM quite often. He was always helpful, insightful and generous with sharing his experience, both via PM and in his forum posts.
He also had a singular wit and great sense of humor from the interactions we had together.
I am sad he is no longer with us. He will be missed for sure.
Thanks to kerneltime for sharing the info with the community here.
