One of Japan’s richest men has given eight multimillion-dollar mansions in a wealthy Hawaiian enclave to impoverished families in an eccentric act of philanthropy worthy of Willy Wonka.

All the beneficiaries are Native Hawaiians. Not surprisingly, they are delighted. The neighbours, however, are not.

Genshiro Kawamoto, 75, made his fortune in property and his empire stretches from office buildings in Tokyo to apartment complexes in California.

He has faced criticism previously for evicting tenants at short notice but now Mr Kawamoto appears to have had a change of heart, giving away homes in the exclusive ocean-side Kahala district on Oahu, the third largest of the Hawaiian islands, for barely a couple of hundred dollars a month.

“This is pocket money for me,” he told reporters, explaining that he had chosen the beneficiaries of his scheme from 3,000 Native Hawaiians who had written to him asking for help.

The chosen few included Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters, who moved on Thursday from a homeless shelter to a white-columned house with a circular driveway, stone staircase and deep porcelain bathtub.

The family will live there rent-free for up to ten years but must pay water and electricity bills. They will also get $1,000 (£510) to help with the cost of moving. “I’m shocked. I’m overwhelmed,” said Ms Kahale, through her tears. “From the little box we had to what we have today.” Her new house is thought to be worth $5 million, a relatively modest price on Kahala Avenue.

She became homeless two years ago after a rent increase that could not be absorbed by her salary as a customer service representative at a local telephone company.

Neighbours who have paid millions of dollars to live in the exclusive Kahala area have accused Mr Kawamoto of simply trying to drive down property values so that he can buy their homes at a steep discount.

“Everyone’s paying homage to him, but in reality, he’s the problem,” complained Mark Blackburn, who lives only a few blocks from Ms Kahale’s new home.

Native Hawaiians can trace their ancestry to the Marquesan and Tahitian settlers as far back as AD400, long before the arrival of the British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. Cook died in Hawaii after abducting a Hawaiian chief in an attempt to get back a stolen boat.

There are thought to be about 400,000 Native Hawaiians in the United States, most of them living on the Hawaiian islands, which were annexed to the US in 1898, and others in the states of California, Nevada and Washington.

In a typically defiant statement Mr Kawamoto suggested that multimillionaires who did not want poor Hawaiians living next door to them might want to leave the islands altogether.

Lyn Worley, a school clerk who got the keys to another of the tycoon’s free homes, said that she hoped that her neighbours would grow to love her family. She had been facing eviction from her previous home after her lease ran out.

Then came a letter from Mr Kawamoto, saying: “I choose you and your family among many people . . . my hope is that each of your children will become mature and someday possess strong wings to take off for the World!”

Mrs Worley said: “We prayed so hard and cried so much for God to drop something from the skies, and he did. He really, really did.”

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