Honouliuli National Historic Site

10/05/2026

From September 22, 2026 until February 21, 2027, the Korean Museum of Emigration History in Incheon, Korea, has a special exhibit documenting the Korean prisoner of war experience during WWII in the Hawaiian Islands.

Aside from perspectives of prisoners of war, the exhibit also examines the "Korean-Japanese ethnic conflict inside the camp and the daily lives of POWs" as well as highlighting the "forgotten existence of Korean POWs after liberation".

In concert with the National Park Service, Center for Oral History at UH Mānoa, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, and the Christ United Methodist Church, the museum offers an intimate look at a lesser-known facet of history.

Photo credit: Hawaii's Plantation Village and the Korean Museum of Emigration History

10/03/2026

Last Sunday, we had an amazing finale event to cap off our 80 Years of Closure Commemoration at the Hawaii Theatre Center. Hundreds of our community members came to watch acclaimed ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Kenny Endo of Taiko Center of the Pacific, Hui ‘Iwa Academy - Nā ʻĒheu O Ka ʻIwa Haʻa I Ka Lani, the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony, and more honor this momentous anniversary.

Jake Shimabukuro's original composition for Honouliuli, Kodomo no Tame ni ("For the Sake of the Children), touched the hearts of all in attendance. In a poignant speech prior to performing, Shimabukuro acknowledged all the sacrifices made by the soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 100th Infantry, Battalion, and people incarcerated at Honouliuli that ultimately created a better future for the generations that followed.

Mahalo nui loa to all who joined us for this finale. Together, we will continue to honor and remember the history of Honouliuli Internment Camp.

📸NPS photos

09/26/2026

Shigeki Fujimoto was a U.S. citizen born to Japanese immigrants in the then-territory of Hawai'i and partly raised in Japan. His father, Isaku Fujimoto, was a founder of the Fujimoto Trading Company in Hilo. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, authorities came to arrest Isaku, but upon realizing that Isaku was in Japan on business, arrested his son, Shigeki, in his stead.

Torn from his pregnant wife, Kikue, and two young sons, Shigeki was unjustly imprisoned in Sand Island in 1942 before being transferred to Honouliuli Internment Camp upon its opening in March, 1943. His third son was born while he was incarcerated in Honouliuli.

Incarceration caused many health problems for Shigeki from which he never fully recovered, and he died at 49 years old in 1963.

Stories like Shigeki's are not uncommon, but many are still unheard. The pain and trauma of the injustices faced and forced incarceration left many unable to speak about those painful years for the rest of their lives. This left little opportunity to remember and learn from each individual's experience. It is our duty to remember and tell their tale for them to make sure this never happens again.

You can read more about Shigeki on our Incarcerated Civilians page on our website: https://www.nps.gov/hono/learn/historyculture/shigeki-fujimoto.htm

All photos and historical information were provided by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, granddaughter of Shigeki Fujimoto.

If you feel you are ready to share your family's experience with Honouliuli, we welcome you to email us at [email protected].

Edit: A previous version of this post listed Hawai'i as a state, but it was still a territory during the war.

09/25/2026

2 DAYS TO GO! 🎶

This Sunday, “Honouliuli: A History Awakened” comes to the Hawaii Theatre Center for an immersive performance of music, hula, and storytelling.

Featuring Jake Shimabukuro, Kenny Endo, Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony, Hui ‘Iwa Academy - Nā ʻĒheu O Ka ʻIwa Haʻa I Ka Lani, and more!

📅 Sunday, Sept. 27
🕓 4 p.m. | Doors open at 3 p.m.
📍 Hawaiʻi Theatre Center

Learn more and get tickets at HonouliuliAwakened.com.

Honouliuli National Historic Site

09/23/2026

To conclude our neighbor island film screening tour of Kinetic Productions' film "Voices Behind Barbed Wire" this year, we welcomed our last audience at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center on Maui. We want to thank everyone who joined us for these important discussions this year and our partners the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and Pacific Historic Parks for making these events possible.

Through the screenings, we were able to reach hundreds of more people who do not have easy access to our events on Oahu. Being able to share the story and history is integral to keep it alive. We hope that in the future, more of our events can be shared with our neighbor island communities.

Our final event for the year will be at the Hawaii Theatre Center this Sunday. Titled "Honouliuli Awakened", it is a show honoring the history of the camp through hula, music, poetry, and more. Ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has composed a piece in honor of Honouliuli Internment Camp and will be debuting it on this special evening. If you are interested in joining, please see our partner's link for more information.

Photos courtesy of Kinetic Productions

09/19/2026

Honouliuli Internment Camp was the largest and longest-operated confinement site in the Hawaiian Islands during WWII. About 400 American civilians were unjustly arrested and held at Honouliuli. While many have heard of Honouliuli Internment Camp, most don't know that Honouliuli was just one of 17 confinement sites in the Hawaiian Islands during that time period.

Our superintendent had the opportunity to visit two lesser-known sites earlier this year on the islands of Moloka'i and Lana'i. In the Kaunakakai Jail on Moloka'i, at least two of the seven arrested individuals were eventually sent to Honouliuli. Their names were Masutaro Teraoku and Masaichi Marumoto. On Lana'i, two people were arrested and held unjustly in the Lana'i City Jail but were either paroled or sent to the mainland camps. Both of these buildings still stand today, although the Kaunakakai Jail has been moved from its original location to Malama Park.

History is always closer than you think in places you may least expect. Our work with our local partners helps to preserve stories and places such as this so they don't disappear from our collective memory.

📸NPS photos
Photo 1: Kaunakakai Jail on Moloka'i
Photo 2: Lana'i City Jail on Lana'i

09/16/2026

WWII Across America's National Parks: Honouliuli National Historic Site

Following the institution of martial law in the Hawaiian Islands, hundreds of civilians in Hawaii were arrested and placed into Sand Island Relocation Center, a temporary holding camp on the coast. Because much of warfare was ocean-based at the time, the camp violated the Geneva Convention which states that foreign enemies cannot be held in a potential warzone. As a result, Honouliuli Internment Camp was built in a deep gulch located at the base of the Waianae mountains. It opened its gates on March 1, 1943.

Nicknamed jigokudani, or “Hell Valley”, by the Japanese Americans, Honouliuli Internment Camp was the largest and longest-operated incarceration site in the Hawaiian Islands. At its peak, it held 4,000 prisoners of war (POW) from Korea, Okinawa, Italy, Japan and the Philippines and 400 American civilians, mostly of Japanese descent, many of whom were first-generation Japanese citizens along with a handful of European Americans.

Honouliuli’s stories of injustice are not only characterized by the rights of civilians stripped due to racial prejudice, but also by the injustice experienced by the Korean and Okinawan POWs. These men lived through the Japanese invasion of their home country, were forced to fight for the Imperial Army, and then captured by American forces – all unthinkable hardships at no fault of their own. It’s imperative that all stories born of Honouliuli Internment Camp are remembered and shared.

These experiences in Hawaiian incarceration sites, while rooted in the same prejudice, varied immensely from their counterparts on the continent. Over 125,000 Japanese Americans along the west coast were forcibly removed and placed into camps, one of which was Minidoka National Historic Site.



All photos courtesy of Hawaii's Plantation Village

09/13/2026

Only a couple more weeks until the 80 Years of Closure Commemoration finale event at Hawaii Theatre Center! Sponsored by our partner Pacific Historic Parks, Honouliuli: A History Awakened will feature artists such as Jake Shimabukuro, Kenny Endo of Taiko Center of the Pacific, Hui ‘Iwa Academy - Nā ʻĒheu O Ka ʻIwa Haʻa I Ka Lani, and more for a night of music, poetry, and dance.

If you're interested in attending this event on September 27, please visit Pacific Historic Parks' webpage at https://honouliuliawakened.com/

09/10/2026

As a part of Honouliuli National Historic Site's 80 Years of Closure Commemoration, we will be partnering with Pacific Historic Parks to bring a new, free, virtual speaker series to the community. Titled "Hidden Histories - Remembrance Awakened", this speaker series will focus on remembrance through the lenses of art, architecture, institutions, and technology. By examining remembrance through these undervalued lenses, we can expand what we understand about the incarceration story by learning how far its impacts spread.

September's Remembrance Awakened speakers will be Lorraine Minatoishi, President & CEO of AEPAC Architecture and Engineering, Anoma Pieris, Professor of Architecture and Associate Dean at the University of Melbourne, and Lynne Horiuchi, an independent scholar with numerous published works about Japanese incarceration.

Through this talk, uncover how the power of architecture and design contributed to the oppression experienced by incarcerated peoples during WWII.

EVENT DETAILS:
September 24, 5:30-6:30pm HST
Link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wVfvmLTKQRymF_KJt6pgUQ #/registration

09/10/2026

Our grand finale is only a couple weeks away! Visit honouliuliawakened.com to learn how you can attend this evening of music, hula, and hear an original composition inspired by Honouliuli Internment Camp by Jake Shimabukuro for the first time ever.

Join us at the historic Hawaii Theatre Center on September 27, 2026, for "Honouliuli: A History Awakened," a powerful fundraiser presented by Pacific Historic Parks.

This immersive performance of music, hula, and storytelling brings together internationally acclaimed ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro; master taiko artist Kenny Endo; the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony; and more.

This moving program honors the legacy of Honouliuli National Historic Site and the stories it holds. Proceeds from ticket sales directly support preservation and education efforts to ensure this history is never forgotten.

Be part of an unforgettable night of reflection, culture, and connection.

To learn more and buy tickets: https://www.honouliuliawakened.com