Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii (JCCH) -COMING SPECIAL EVENTS/NEWS -

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Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii (JCCH) -COMING SPECIAL EVENTS/NEWS -
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About JCCH

What’s Happening at the JCCH

Irasshai 2026: New Vendors and Entertainment

We are just a few months away from our annual fundraising event at the Center! Step into the vibrant energy of Japan's street festivals at the 4th Annual Irasshai: Eat, Drink, Kanpai!, where you’ll discover street food-inspired tastings from local chefs, along with refreshing beverages and live performances. Your participation will support our nonprofit organization’s programs and educational resources, serving thousands of people year-round.

We’re excited to welcome four new food vendors to this year’s event: Chef Yuji Haraguchi, The Local General Store, and Sachi Sweets. While there’s still more to come, you can check out our current list of participating vendors and performers on our event page. This is a 21+ event.

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Use code tsuru15 for $15 off General Admission tickets.

Learn More

Friday, April 3, 2026 | 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Now Hiring: Camp Counselors

We are seeking enthusiastic and energetic individuals (17-23 years old) to join our Tanoshii Hawaiʻi summer camp team! Camp counselors help create a safe and welcoming environment for children to explore and appreciate diversity through engaging activities while gaining invaluable leadership experience. Applications are now being accepted through Friday, June 5, 2026.

Learn More

Camp Dates: July 20 - 24, 2026

Search the Hawaiʻi Internee Database

Have you heard about the Hawaiʻi Internee Database? Using this online tool, you can search for Hawaiʻi residents incarcerated during WWII.

Learn about their employment, locations, relationships, and explore related photographs, artifacts, and oral history transcripts from our collections at the Tokioka Heritage Resource Center. Our new video can help you get started with your research.

Watch Our Instagram Reel

View the Database

JCCH Featured Ikebana

Each week, our ikebana volunteers generously donate an arrangement to display in our administrative office lobby. We hope you enjoy this special design by:

Grace Sekimitsu, Ohara
Hana Mai 花舞

This arrangement uses Dracaena concinna “Rainbow” and Queen Emma spider lily.

Community Announcements

Swingposium in Hawaiʻi

Created and produced by San Jose Taiko, Swingposium combines taiko, jazz, swing dance, and immersive theatre to tell a hidden history of one way Japanese Americans maintained morale in WWII incarceration camps – through swing dances with live big band music. Special performances will be held on Maui, Hawaiʻi Island, and Oʻahu. Tickets are available online.

Pukalani Community Center (Maui) - February 15, 2026
Aunt Sally Kaleohano’s Luau Hale (Hilo) - February 18, 2026
Soto Mission of Hawaii (Honolulu) - February 21 - 22, 2026

Learn More

Japanese Martial Arts & Culture at Waipahu High School

Through a cultural exchange program, students from Nihon Sport Science University will perform a special free demonstration featuring judo, kendo, kyudo (Japanese archery), aikido, sumo, shorinji kempo, and traditional Japanese dance.

Sunday, February 22, 2026
1:00 PM

T-Shirt Pre-Orders Open For Sold Out Sizes

Due to overwhelming demand, several sizes of the JCCH 2026 Year of the Horse t-shirts, designed by Sumofish, sold out quickly. To make sure no one misses out, we are opening a limited pre-order for sold-out sizes. Secure the size(s) you need by placing your pre-order by Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 3:00 PM HST, through this online pre-order form.

Once your pre-order is received, the JCCH Gift Shop will email you an invoice. Please be sure to submit payment ASAP to complete your order. Any applicable taxes and/or shipping costs will be applied to your invoice.

Thank you for the incredible support and enthusiasm for this year’s design—we can’t wait to see everyone wearing it!

Pre-Order T-Shirts Here

JCCH Featured Ikebana

Each week, our ikebana volunteers generously donate an arrangement to display in our administrative office lobby. We hope you enjoy this special design by:

Irene Nakamoto, Ohara

This arrangement uses nandina, chrysanthemum, cedar, and Mickey Mouse plant.

感謝 - With Gratitude

Mahalo For Joining Us at the New Year’s ʻOhana Festival!

Thousands of community members joined us to welcome the Year of the Horse this past Sunday for the New Year’s ʻOhana Festival. The celebration began with a traditional Shinto blessing in the Kenshikan Dōjō and a taiko performance in the Generations Ballroom. Families and friends filled the campus throughout the day, enjoying live performances, cultural demonstrations, hands-on activities, and a variety of delicious food. This festival would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, in-kind donors, and the incredible dedication of our festival committee members and volunteers! We also extend our heartfelt thanks to our performers, cultural practitioners, vendors, partners, and staff, whose collective efforts created a safe and welcoming experience for all of our attendees. We look forward to sharing more opportunities to celebrate culture and community together!

IMAGES: Tyson Yamada / Nani Welch-Keliihoomalu

Community Announcements

Two Nails, One Love

Written by Lee A. Tonouchi, based on the novel by Alden M. Hayashi, Two Nails, One Love, is opening soon at Kumu Kahua Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Learn More

“Anxious Ethan” is the Pidgin-speaking voice of self-doubt that haunts Ethan as he and his mother unravel painful family history: her incarceration during World War II and subsequent deportation to Japan as part of a little-known hostage exchange in which the United States traded its own citizens for whiter Americans held abroad.

January 22 - February 22, 2026

Remembering Betsy Young

Our staff members and volunteers are deeply saddened by the passing of Betsy Young, one of the JCCH’s most dedicated and cherished volunteers. Carole Hayashino, President Emerita, shared this personal tribute.

Learn About Betsy’s Impact

Support the JCCH

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About JCCH

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 at 2454 South Beretania Street in Mō‘ili‘ili, the Cultural Center features a Community and Historical Gallery, Resource Center, Kenshikan martial arts dōjō, Seikōan Japanese teahouse and Gift Shop. The Cultural Center presents various programs, festivals and exhibitions throughout the year.

Motto

Honoring our heritage. Embracing our diversity. Sharing our future.

Vision

We aspire to co-create a society where a deeper knowledge of one's heritage and a profound understanding of oneself will enable enlightened connections among all people.

Mission Statement

To be a vibrant resource, strengthening our diverse community by educating present and future generations in the evolving Japanese American experience in Hawai‘i. We do this through relevant programming, meaningful community service and innovative partnerships that enhance the understanding and celebration of our heritage, culture and love of the land. To guide us in this work we draw from the values found in our Japanese American traditions and the spirit of Aloha.

History

The seeds of thought and planning which had since developed into the solid concrete of Phase I and the working committees of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i were sown over two generations ago. Minds and hearts of Issei and Nisei (first and second generations) forebearers set themselves to the tasks of survival, later to national heroism, and later still to the responsibility of restoring the concept of cultural pride in themselves and their community. Emotions generated by the Kanyaku Imin (125 Years of Japanese In Hawai‘i) celebration in February of 1985 spurred the devotion of major Japanese groups in the community to initially conceptualize the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i.

In 1986, The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce (HJCC) initiated the Japan-Hawaii Cultural Center project, "The Dream," for the purpose of bringing together related organizations in Hawai‘i to work in a common effort to preserve the legacy and history of the pioneers who came to Hawaii from Japan, and whose sacrifices and contributions made it possible for the younger generations to become integral members of American society. It was planned to be a legacy where future members of our community could look back and be fully conscious of their roots. The Center would also foster relations by promoting harmony and mutual understanding between Japan, Hawai‘i, and the United States.

The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce was willing to accept the enormous responsibility of immortalizing and cultivating the legacy of the Japanese in Hawai‘i by making a commitment to plant and nourish the seedling. Many community organizations supported the creation of a Japanese cultural center, as indicated by a survey to assess the need and expectations for a center.

Courses of action plans were implemented to create Ad Hoc Committees composed of the various Japan related organizations, and to organize a fund-raising organization to raise funds from the community within the State of Hawai‘i as well as in Japan. Committees set in motion to carefully plan, develop, and research in establishing the Cultural Center. The inception of some committees were: Steering, Planning, Public Relations, Historical Research Program, Program, Membership and Property Management. A schedule of "Milestone" tasks for these committees were implemented to prepare for the tremendous work that lay ahead in the formation of the Cultural Center.

On May, 28, 1987, the birth of a new direction and a new step toward the dreams of our forefathers emerged as the Cultural Center was incorporated under the laws of the State of Hawai‘i as a non-profit corporation to develop, own, maintain, and operate a Japanese cultural center in Hawai‘i. As an independent entity, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i would play a most crucial role in perpetuating the cultural heritage we inherited from our Issei forefathers into the lifestyles and values of our children's children.

Revamped, Revved and Ready... the Cultural Center Boards and staff moves forward with great aspirations

The Board of Directors consists of 15 community leaders from O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i counties who lead the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i by establishing policies and strategic direction. Each Director either chairs and /or is a member of the Executive Committee, Governance Committee, Membership Development Committee, Fundraising Committee, Facilities & Operations Committee, and Budget & Finance Committee. The Board members are elected by the membership as a whole.

The Board of Governors currently has forty (40) members who advise and make recommendations to the Board of Directors, and oversee the implementation of programs and activities of the Cultural Center. The Board of Governors also assist and maintain the fiscal well-being of the Center by supporting its fundraising activities. The Board of Governors are appointed by the Board of Directors.

The staff of nine full-time and two part-time employees is led by the President & Executive Director who administers the day-to-day operations of the Cultural Center.

The Board of Directors, Board of Governors and the staff, and volunteers work in unison to carry out the many exciting plans at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i. When put together these individuals, though all unique in their background, create a dynamic, capable and passionate group who are dedicated to the Cultural Center's mission of sharing the history, heritage and culture of the evolving Japanese American experience in Hawai‘i.

HOURS

Historical Gallery & Gift Shop: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Resource Center: By Appointment Only

Administrative Office: By Appointment Only

Questions? Ready for an appointment?

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Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii (JCCH) -COMING SPECIAL EVENTS/NEWS -

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