JCCH Recognized at State Capitol for Its Efforts in Preserving The History of Racial Internment in Hawaii

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JCCH Recognized at State Capitol for Its Efforts in Preserving The History of Racial Internment in Hawaii
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NEWS RELEASE

March 14th 2008

JCCH Recognized at State Capitol for
Its Efforts in Preserving The History of
Racial Internment in Hawaii

HONOLULU--The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH) along with former World War II Hawai'i internees Chojiro Kageura, Jack Tasaka and Harry Urata will be recognized in the Senate Chambers at the State Capitol on Monday, March 17, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. for its efforts in sharing the little-known history of the internment of about 1,400 Hawai'i residents of Japanese, German and Italian decent throughout the Territory of Hawai'i during World War II.

Sen. Will Espero D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu) is sponsoring the senate floor presentation to: Honouliuli Internment Camp internees: Chojiro Kageura, Jack Tasaka and Harry Urata; JCCH volunteers and members of the JCCH Confinement Sites Committee: co-chair Jane Kurahara, co-chair Don Amano and Betsy Young as well as Stacie Sasagawa, representative of Monsanto Hawaii, which owns the property where the former Honouliuli Internment camp was located during World War II.

The JCCH, along with the Japanese American Citizens League -- Honolulu Chapter and several other local organizations, recently marked the 65th commemoration of the opening of the Honouliuli Internment Camp on March 2 with a pilgrimage to Honouliuli Gulch and program, Never Again: E.O. 9066 to Honouliuli, where event attendees learned about the history and latest developments on the preservation of the Honouliuli Internment Camp from various reports, video presentations and speakers, including archaeologists who surveyed the former internment site in Honouliuli Gulch in Central O'ahu in late February.

Under Executive Order 9066--signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19,1942--120,000 people of Japanese ancestry (two-thirds of those people were American citizens) were removed from their west coast homes on the continental U.S. and unjustly detained behind barbed wire and stripped of their basic Constitutional rights. In Hawai'i, the Honouliuli Internment Camp was opened on March 1, 1943 for the detention of approximately 300 Hawai'i residents, most of whom were American citizens of Japanese ancestry.

The commemoration and an archaeological survey of the Honouliuli site was coordinated by the JCCH with the support of Monsanto Hawaii--an agricultural company that provides farming products and solutions worldwide--that acquired the camp site as part of a larger land purchase last year and committed to working with the community to preserve and protect it.

During the 2007 legislative session, the Legislature passed SB1228 SD1 HD1 CD1. This measure established a process to determine an appropriate means of memorializing the World War II Japanese internment camp experience in Hawai'i with $50,000 appropriated to the State Department of Land and Natural Resources. This bill was introduced by Sen. Espero and became law under Act 163 on June 8, 2007.

The JCCH has played a key role in assisting DLNR to identify and provide research information on the five known internment camps: Honouliuli Internment Camp and Sand Island on O'ahu, Kilauea Military Camp on the Big Island, Haiku Internment Camp on Maui and the Kalaheo Stockade on Kaua'i.

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH), a non-profit organization, strives to share the history, heritage and culture of the evolving Japanese American experience in Hawai'i. Located in M�'ili'ili, the JCCH features a Community and Historical Gallery, Resource Center, Kenshikan martial arts d�j�, Seik�an Japanese teahouse and Gift Shop. For more information call (808) 945-7633, email info@jcch.com or visit the website at www.jcch.com.
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