born on the island of kauai in the republic of hawaii to father kichizo and mother haru, both sugar plantation workers, kurihara moved to the mainland to attend st. ignatius high school in san francisco. following service with the u.s. army medical department in france during world war i, kurihara went on to southwestern university in los angeles, where he received a bachelor's degree in commercial science. afterwards he held a variety of jobs in food-related business, until the 1930s when he became the navigator on a portuguese ship.