Writer Scott Kikkawa finds peace, inspiration, and good coffee at HoMA | Honolulu Museum of Art
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:21
Writer Scott Kikkawa finds peace, inspiration, and good coffee at HoMA | Honolulu Museum of Art
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Fri Jan 2 2026
Writer Scott Kikkawa finds peace, inspiration, and good coffee at HoMA
On any given Friday, you’ll likely find Honolulu’s favorite noir novelist—and HoMA member—Scott Kikkawa at a table in Palm Courtyard, working on his next book. The urbane author’s work setup includes three fountain pens from his collection of 150 and a Leuchtturm1917 notebook—no laptop for him. He fills the lined pages in longhand.
On any given Friday, you’ll likely find Honolulu’s favorite noir novelist—and HoMA member—Scott Kikkawa at a table in Palm Courtyard, working on his next book. The urbane author’s work setup includes three fountain pens from his collection of 150 and a Leuchtturm1917 notebook—no laptop for him. He fills the lined pages in longhand.
“That’s how I do my first drafts usually because I find that it makes you carefully consider your words more,” says Kikkawa, who is an immigration officer by training and works in the Department of Homeland Security. “When you use a notebook with a pen you create more from the perspective of a writer. Whereas when you sit at a keyboard and you look at the output immediately, I think you write more as a reader. And also you have a tendency to keep editing yourself while you’re doing it and that process slows you down.”
Kikkawa has been coming to the Honolulu Museum of Art since he was a child. “This was the place for classes and field trips. I remember having lunch in Thomas Square when it was still safe to do it,” he says. He’s familiar with the collection and is a dedicated slow looker, preferring to spend hours in a couple of galleries instead of skimming works in a mad dash. However, about five years ago he found that while he consistently renewed his HoMA membership, he wasn’t using it much and when he did, he didn’t get far beyond the galleries near the entrance. “At a certain point I felt like an idiot,” he says. So one day he decided to explore more. In search of refreshment, he discovered the Coffee Bar and a new world opened up for him.
“It’s nice and peaceful here and the coffee is really good,” says Kikkawa. He doesn’t understand the appeal chains like Starbucks have for other writers. “I don’t consider them to be productive environments. Most of them are crowded, they have a fast-foody feel, they’re all shaped like hallways, the seats are uncomfortable, and the coffee is only so-so.”
When he needs a break, Kikkawa doesn’t have to go far to clear his mind. “One of the things I love is getting up to see art,” he says. His favorite place to take a break is the Robert F. Lange Gallery of Japanese woodblock prints. He explains that for his pens he mostly uses inks from Japan, such as Kuretake’s Meiji No Iro line inspired by Meiji period colors.
“Sometimes I look at the prints and see colors I like, then when I go to Japan, I look for inks in those colors and shades,” he says. He cites the inks of the Tag Stationery shop in Kyoto. As the ink goes from pen to the page, “it’s almost like watercolor the way the shade gets darker and lighter. It’s also like the gradations of color in woodblock prints.”
Kikkawa’s most recent book,
Char Siu
, is the third in a series featuring Francis Hideyuki Yoshikawa, the Hawai‘i Police Department’s only Japanese American homicide detective in 1950s Territorial Hawai‘i. The fourth one is now being edited by Bamboo Ridge Press. He also has books five and six ready to go—both of them completed in Palm Courtyard.
While he hasn’t yet included the Museum as a setting in his novels, he says it is coming. “I have to do some research and find out what form it was in 1955,” he explains. We can’t wait.
Want to be inspired like Scott Kikkawa? Become a HoMA member today for access to all the Museum has to offer while giving back to your community by helping to create transformative art experiences.
Become a member today
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Added:
To wishlist
To the cookie settings
To the main content
To the footer
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Fri Jan 2 2026
Writer Scott Kikkawa finds peace, inspiration, and good coffee at HoMA
On any given Friday, you’ll likely find Honolulu’s favorite noir novelist—and HoMA member—Scott Kikkawa at a table in Palm Courtyard, working on his next book. The urbane author’s work setup includes three fountain pens from his collection of 150 and a Leuchtturm1917 notebook—no laptop for him. He fills the lined pages in longhand.
On any given Friday, you’ll likely find Honolulu’s favorite noir novelist—and HoMA member—Scott Kikkawa at a table in Palm Courtyard, working on his next book. The urbane author’s work setup includes three fountain pens from his collection of 150 and a Leuchtturm1917 notebook—no laptop for him. He fills the lined pages in longhand.
“That’s how I do my first drafts usually because I find that it makes you carefully consider your words more,” says Kikkawa, who is an immigration officer by training and works in the Department of Homeland Security. “When you use a notebook with a pen you create more from the perspective of a writer. Whereas when you sit at a keyboard and you look at the output immediately, I think you write more as a reader. And also you have a tendency to keep editing yourself while you’re doing it and that process slows you down.”
Kikkawa has been coming to the Honolulu Museum of Art since he was a child. “This was the place for classes and field trips. I remember having lunch in Thomas Square when it was still safe to do it,” he says. He’s familiar with the collection and is a dedicated slow looker, preferring to spend hours in a couple of galleries instead of skimming works in a mad dash. However, about five years ago he found that while he consistently renewed his HoMA membership, he wasn’t using it much and when he did, he didn’t get far beyond the galleries near the entrance. “At a certain point I felt like an idiot,” he says. So one day he decided to explore more. In search of refreshment, he discovered the Coffee Bar and a new world opened up for him.
“It’s nice and peaceful here and the coffee is really good,” says Kikkawa. He doesn’t understand the appeal chains like Starbucks have for other writers. “I don’t consider them to be productive environments. Most of them are crowded, they have a fast-foody feel, they’re all shaped like hallways, the seats are uncomfortable, and the coffee is only so-so.”
When he needs a break, Kikkawa doesn’t have to go far to clear his mind. “One of the things I love is getting up to see art,” he says. His favorite place to take a break is the Robert F. Lange Gallery of Japanese woodblock prints. He explains that for his pens he mostly uses inks from Japan, such as Kuretake’s Meiji No Iro line inspired by Meiji period colors.
“Sometimes I look at the prints and see colors I like, then when I go to Japan, I look for inks in those colors and shades,” he says. He cites the inks of the Tag Stationery shop in Kyoto. As the ink goes from pen to the page, “it’s almost like watercolor the way the shade gets darker and lighter. It’s also like the gradations of color in woodblock prints.”
Kikkawa’s most recent book,
Char Siu
, is the third in a series featuring Francis Hideyuki Yoshikawa, the Hawai‘i Police Department’s only Japanese American homicide detective in 1950s Territorial Hawai‘i. The fourth one is now being edited by Bamboo Ridge Press. He also has books five and six ready to go—both of them completed in Palm Courtyard.
While he hasn’t yet included the Museum as a setting in his novels, he says it is coming. “I have to do some research and find out what form it was in 1955,” he explains. We can’t wait.
Want to be inspired like Scott Kikkawa? Become a HoMA member today for access to all the Museum has to offer while giving back to your community by helping to create transformative art experiences.
Become a member today
Suggested stories
Bodhisattvas and Bart Simpson: All about Tsherin Sherpa and his work
Explore Tsherin Sherpa’s journey from traditional thangka painter to global contemporary artist blending Buddhist iconography with pop culture in Divine Disruption.
Story
New jewelry line is inspired by HoMA artworks
GAMAR x HoMA collection reimagines HoMA artworks as ethically crafted gemstone jewelry, inspired by O’Keeffe, Hokusai, Guanyin, and more.
Story
The Garden Club of Honolulu wants you to “Imagine That!” May 8-10
Experience Imagine That!—the Garden Club of Honolulu’s Major Flower Show at HoMA, May 8–10, featuring stunning floral design, sustainability, and community inspiration.
Story
We have received your application. We will contact you when tickets become available.
Something went wrong. Please call to be put on the waiting list.
Added:
To wishlist