The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (JCCH, ja, ハワイ日本文化センター, ''Hawai Nihon Bunka Sentā'') is a

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Ce ...

and

history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

in Moiliili, Hawaii that focuses on the

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

experience in Hawaii, especially

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

History

Plans to build the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii began in 1982, when the

Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce is a business organization that promotes economic growth in Hawaii and Japan. History After the Chinatown fire of 1900, 37 Japanese businessmen formed the Emergency Japanese Association to help Japa ...

began planning to create a space where groups involved with Japanese culture could meet and practice their traditions. The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii opened on May 28, 1987 in Moiliili, a majority-Japanese neighborhood in Honolulu. By 1989, the fundraising committee had raised $7.5 million from the

Keidanren The is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren (, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946; name sometimes used alone as abbreviation for whole organization) and Nikkeiren (, Japan Federatio ...

and other Japanese organizations to buy land and construct a new building to house the organization. Construction of the first phase of the building was completed in 1991 (Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Building, named after the foundation that funded the construction), while the second was completed in 1994.

"Save the Center"

In 2002 the JCCH announced that it would sell off the building and the land it sat on in order to pay off millions of dollars in debt accrued during the construction of the second phase of the building. JCCH members started a committee to "Save the Center", headed by Colbert Matsumoto. They raised $6 million in 47 days, and the lenders forgave the $1.5 million in interest on the loan. The organization reduced the number of

board members A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervise the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiza ...

, changed leadership, and rewrote their mission statement. Once the debt was paid off, they were also able to focus more of their revenue and attention on programs and community outreach.

Finding Honouliuli Internment Camp

After receiving an inquiry about the location of the

Honouliuli internment camp Honouliuli National Historic Site is near Waipahu on the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. This is the site of the Honouliuli Internment Camp which was Hawaiʻi's largest and longest-operating internment camp, opened in 1943 and closed ...

from

KHNL KHNL (channel 13) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KGMB (channel 5) and Kailua-Kona–licensed Telemundo affi ...

in 1998, volunteers in the JCCH Resource Center rediscovered the site of the camp in 2002. After completing archaeological surveys with the University of Hawaii West Oahu, the JCCH pushed for the camp site to be included in the

National Parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

system as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

. In 2014 the JCCH began producing short documentaries about internment, such as "The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii". Honouliuli became a National Monument in February 2015. The JCCH also received a series of grants to study and preserve the site, as well as to educate the public about internment in Hawaii.

Exhibits

Okage Sama De: I am what I am because of you

The main exhibit at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii is called "Okage Sama De: I am what I am because of you". It opened in 1995 and shows the history of Japanese immigration to Hawaii from 1868 to present. The exhibit begins by showcasing values that the

issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

immigrants brought with them, then moves on to depictions of plantation life,

picture bride The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the 442nd and 100th Battalion. There is a theater in the middle of the exhibit showing short documentaries produced by the Center. The exhibit then finishes with a section on post-war life in Hawaii. It has held several travelling exhibits, such as the

Go For Broke National Education Center's Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position l ...

"Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American WWII Experience". After the closure of the Ellison Onizuka Space Center in Kona, some of Onizuka's memorabilia that were on display there, including a

moon rock Moon rock or lunar rock is rock originating from Earth's Moon. This includes lunar material collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon, and rock that has been ejected naturally from the Moon's surface and landed on Earth as ...

, were put on display in the Japanese Cultural Center's exhibit.

Honouliuli Education Center

The Honouliuli Education Center opened on October 26, 2016. It is an extension of the permanent exhibition "Okage Sama De", and focuses on the experiences of

Japanese-American internees are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

at the

. It includes photographs, videos, artifacts used and created by the internees, and a virtual tour of the camp site.

Events

New Years Ohana Festival

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii has held the New Years Ohana Festival annually since 1993. The festival includes mochi pounding, performances, games, and a craft fair. Many vendors also serve Japanese food. There are also demonstrations of cultural arts such as

tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

, and

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

Sharing the Spirit of Aloha Gala

The Gala is the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii's largest fundraiser. During the Gala the Center recognizes people who have contributed to the

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

community and promoted Japanese culture.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Museums in Honolulu Japanese-American culture in Hawaii 1987 establishments in Hawaii Museums established in 1987 Museums of Japanese culture abroad in the United States