Movie Screening: "Untold Story" with Panelists

Local Hawaiʻi resident and Director Ryan Kawamoto has created multiple documentaries about internment and incarceration in Hawaiʻi with his production company Kinetic Productions. "Untold Story" originally aired on PBS Hawaiʻi to critical acclaim. Thanks to Pacific Hist......More

Local Hawaiʻi resident and Director Ryan Kawamoto has created multiple documentaries about internment and incarceration in Hawaiʻi with his production company Kinetic Productions. "Untold Story" originally aired on PBS Hawaiʻi to critical acclaim. Thanks to Pacific Historic Parks, the community will be able to watch the one hour film for free at the Doris Duke Theater at the Honolulu Museum of Art. This special film screening will be followed by a discussion of Honouliuli and Hawaii's internment experience with panel members, including Ryan Kawamoto himself, Carole Hayashino, the former President/Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, and Sandi Chang, whose grandfather was held at Honouliuli Internment Camp.The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans In Hawai‘i, produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, written/directed by Ryan Kawamoto, is the first full-length documentary to chronicle the internment experience of Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i.

900 Kinau St. Honolulu, HI 96814

Kaori Akiyama Life in Honouliuli for Okinawan POWs: Clues Revealed in Documents Oral Histories and Memoirs

Okinawan POWs were the last group among four major ethnic groups of POWs to arrive in Hawaiʻi during and immediately following WWII. Although the exact reason for their forced transport to Hawaiʻi from the battleground of Okinawa is unclear, this presentation will exami......More

Okinawan POWs were the last group among four major ethnic groups of POWs to arrive in Hawaiʻi during and immediately following WWII. Although the exact reason for their forced transport to Hawaiʻi from the battleground of Okinawa is unclear, this presentation will examine clues that reveal details of their lives in Honouliuli based on US military documents, interviews and their memoirs in Japanese. Kaori Akiyama is an Assistant Professor at the Division of Japanese Studies in the Graduate School of Humanities at Osaka University. After studying at the University of Hawaiʻi, she received her Ph.D. in Japanese History from The Graduate University for Advanced Studies [SOKENDAI] in 2018. She is the author of "The History of Japanese Internment in Hawaiʻi: Changes in the Camps and Camp Life during the Pacific War" (2020, in Japanese). Her areas of study are the history of Japanese in Hawaiʻi and Okinawan Prisoners of War during WWII and the study of cultures and representation. 

Brandon Marc Higa From the Ryukyu Kingdom to Honouliuli: Okinawan POWs in Historical Context

Higa’s research on the legal status of Okinawan prisoners of war during World War II provides critical insights into the broader historical and legal framework of civilian internment and military detention policies in the Pacific. Okinawans, many of whom were forcibly c......More

Higa’s research on the legal status of Okinawan prisoners of war during World War II provides critical insights into the broader historical and legal framework of civilian internment and military detention policies in the Pacific. Okinawans, many of whom were forcibly conscripted by the Japanese military or caught in the crossfire of the Battle of Okinawa, occupied a complex legal position under international law as both subjects of the Japanese Empire and an indigenous people with distinct historical ties to the Ryukyu Kingdom. His work examines how these legal ambiguities influenced the treatment of Okinawan POWs and how their experiences parallel those of Japanese Americans and other detainees interned at Honouliuli and similar camps in the United States. By drawing connections between the wartime internment of civilians and the evolving legal frameworks governing military occupation, Higa’s research contributes to understanding Honouliuli’s role as a site of remembrance and historical reflection on civil liberties, war, and indigenous identity. Brandon Marc Higa is a lecturer in law and licensed attorney with a doctor of juridical sciences (S.J.D.) and juris doctor (J.D.) degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. Higa received a NSEP Boren Fellowship to complete post-graduate research at Stanford University’s Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama, Japan. His undergraduate study abroad experience includes exchanges to Waseda University (Tōkyō, Japan) as a Freeman - ASIA awardee and Kyung Hee University (Seoul, South Korea) through the Critical Language Scholarship while completing dual bachelors and master's degrees in international relations at the University of Southern California.

Konko Mission of Wahiawa Tour

Honouliuli National Historic Site recognizes and honors the women interned the camp during wartime. In honor of Women's History Month, we are partnering with Konko Mission of Wahiawa, a mission founded in 1940 by Reverend Haruko Takahashi, a Honouliuli internee.Street p......More

Honouliuli National Historic Site recognizes and honors the women interned the camp during wartime. In honor of Women's History Month, we are partnering with Konko Mission of Wahiawa, a mission founded in 1940 by Reverend Haruko Takahashi, a Honouliuli internee.Street parking is available but there may be difficult since the Mission is located in a residential neighborhood. 

207 Muliwai Ave, Wahiawa, HI 96786