Honouliuli National Historic Site

08/25/2026

Happy National Park Week!

As we celebrate the National Park Service's 110th birthday today, we encourage all to learn more about their national parks that protect the cultural and natural resources in the 400+ units across the nation!

Honouliuli National Historic Site tells the incarceration story of prisoners of war and American civilians in the Hawaiian Islands during WWII. Through this history, we can learn from mistakes in the past to guide us towards a better future.

📸NPS Photo

08/24/2026

We will be participating in this campaign with our fellow WWII park units, so be sure to follow along!

World War II Across America’s National Parks: An Introduction

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation, we embrace the story of America from our founding to today. National parks help preserve many chapters of that story, including one of the most defining events of the 20th century: World War II. Sixteen million Americans served under arms, more than 400,000 were killed, and countless millions more supported the war effort at home. The war touched every part of American society, and little was left unchanged—including national parks.

For the next 16 weeks, leading up to the 85th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the National Park Service will take you across the country to explore America's experience in World War II through the lens of national parks. These sites preserve different parts of America's wartime story, including both triumphs and tragedies. This list of parks is by no means exclusive, nor are the stories that will be shared. They represent just a fraction of the war's impact on our parks and the nation, with many of those impacts still felt today.

To follow the series, use . Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a new park will share its story and point you to the next stop in the journey.

The series begins here at .

Image Caption: WWII enlisted visit Grand Canyon National Park.
Image Credit: NPS/Emily Welch

08/21/2026

Park Update:

We hope everyone in Hawai'i stayed safe and dry during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Lala this past week. Park staff assessed the Honouliuli NHS grounds a few days ago and are happy to report that the park sustained no major damage with only a few minor branches that were cleared from trails already.

Thank you to the vegetation team for always keeping our historic sites and trails safe and clear so when storms like Lala hit, the damage is easily remedied.

NPS photo (taken pre-storm)

08/19/2026

This summer, the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Architecture had a summer exchange program with the Nagaoka Institute of Design (長岡造形大学　建築・環境デザイン学科) in Japan loosely centered around peace memorials related to WWII history in Hawai'i.

Superintendent Christine Ogura along with volunteer tour docents, some fluent in Japanese, led the 20 students from Hawai'i and Japan and 4 faculty members on a special visit to Honouliuli National Historic Site. Sharing the history of the site with international and local students helps build bridges for future generations so that they may learn from mistakes of the past. We were honored to have been a part of this educational opportunity!

08/17/2026

For the 80 Years of Closure Commemoration of when Honouliuli Internment Camp closed, the National Park Service in partnership with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, Kinetic Productions, and Pacific Historic Parks, will be bringing special film screenings of "Voices Behind Barbed Wire" on all neighboring islands.

"Voices Behind Barbed Wire", a film by Kinetic Productions, tells the story of Japanese-Americans living in Hawaiʻi after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and how their families were affected by martial law. Following the film will be a panel discussion with Ryan Kawamoto, director of the film, and Christine Ogura, Superintendent of Honouliuli National Historic Site.

In August, in partnership with the County of Maui, the film will be shown at the Mitchell Pauole Community Center on Moloka‘i. There will also be a Honouliuli NHS pop-up exhibit display at the Moloka‘i Public Library all month in coordination with the film.

EVENT DETAILS:
"Voices Behind Barbed Wire" Film Screening
August 29, 3:00-4:30pm
Mitchell Pauole Center, 90 AINOA ST, Kaunakakai, HI 96748

Photo courtesy of Ryan Kawamoto/Kinetic Productions

08/16/2026

You have two weeks left to drop by the Molokai Public Library and Lana'i Public and School Library this month to see the Honouliuli Pop-up Exhibit on display before it moves to Maui in September.

Take advantage of this learning opportunity and read up about the park's history and how the National Park Service manages the site today.

Thank you to the Moloka'i Public Library for such a beautiful display of our pop-up!

NPS photo

08/13/2026

Honouliuli National Historic Site is recruiting two Kupu interns for the upcoming year.

Join our team on our mission to preserve and interpret the history of Honouliuli National Historic Site, the location of the largest incarceration and internment site in the Hawaiian Islands during WWII.

This role offers the opportunity to engage with visitors, support historical research, steward natural and cultural resources, and share the history of those impacted by war, martial law, internment, and imprisonment so that they may be remembered by present and future generations.

Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree required
Strong communication and interpersonal skills required
GIS and media experience preferred
Invasive vegetation experience preferred
Familiarity with World War II, Japanese-American, or military history preferred

Members will receive a living stipend equivalent to $20 per hour and an AmeriCorps Education Award of $7395.00.

Priority deadline to apply is until August 24, so don't miss this exciting opportunity to be a part of our team!

08/10/2026

Developing a new national park takes time and lots of hard work. With help from other national park units and our planning team, we continue to work towards a safer, accessibility-friendly trail.

Last Monday, our planning team who were visiting from the mainland took measurements of the trail into the park. This will help guide the work that has to be done to meet accessibility requirements for future tours. We're very grateful for their expertise as we progress towards our vision that gives all people access to their public lands.

08/08/2026

This past weekend, Honouliuli National Historic Site staff, accompanied by their National Park Service colleagues from their planning team, hosted five talk story sessions across the island of Oahu to engage the community about their vision for the park and future public visitation.

In total, the talk story sessions saw about 40 people in attendance. We want to thank all of our hard-working volunteers for running the talk story sessions alongside NPS staff and every person who took time out of their busy schedules to participate.

When we work together, the future of the park looks bright.

If you were unable to come to the in-person talk story sessions, the park will be hosting two online versions on August 11 and 13 from 5-7:30pm. Please visit the following link to learn more: https://www.nps.gov/hono/learn/management/talk-story-sessions.htm

08/06/2026

For the 80 Years of Closure Commemoration of when Honouliuli Internment Camp closed, the National Park Service in partnership with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, Kinetic Productions, and Pacific Historic Parks, will be bringing special film screenings of "Voices Behind Barbed Wire" on all neighboring islands.

"Voices Behind Barbed Wire", a film by Kinetic Productions, tells the story of Japanese-Americans living in Hawaiʻi after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and how their families were affected by martial law. Following the film will be a panel discussion with Ryan Kawamoto, director of the film, and Christine Ogura, Superintendent of Honouliuli National Historic Site.

In August, in partnership with Lānaʻi Public & School Library, the film will be shown at the Lāna‘i Public and School Library on Lāna‘i. There will also be a Honouliuli NHS pop-up exhibit display at the library all month in coordination with the film.

EVENT DETAILS:
"Voices Behind Barbed Wire" Film Screening
August 20, 5:00-6:30pm
Lāna‘i Public and School Library, 555 Fraser Ave, Lāna‘i City, HI 96763

Photo courtesy of Ryan Kawamoto/Kinetic Productions