Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii

Programs: Programs (including cultural festivals, statewide public programs, exhibitions and educational workshops) are sponspored throughout the year to promote awareness in the japanese cultural heritage in hawaii and the traditional japanese cultural arts. In 2016-2017, jcch was awarded two significant grants from the u. S department of interior, japanese american confinement site grant program to create an online hawaii internee database and catalog documents related to the world war ii evacuees in hawaii. Jcch continued with its summer crafts and collectibles, cultural workshops and festivals, including the new year's ohana festival. A record crowd of 27,000 visitors helped to kick off the new year by participating in cultual activities, enjoying cultural performances and arts. Jcch was active in its outreach to neighbor island, participating in the matsuri kauai, maui matsuri, moiliili festival, honolulu festival, kona japanese civic association and work with high school teachers through the oahu teacher institute, pacific aviation museum and world war ii valor in the pacific.

in 2016-2017, the community gallery was developed into the honouliuli education center to showcase jcch's work to preserve honouliuli and to feature historical artifacts and oral histories of former japanese americans interned during world war ii. With the support of private funding, jcch translated the exhibit and documentary film into japanese. Jcch also curated and installed the ellison onizuka remembrance in its permanent historical exhibition. A tribute to hawaii's first astronaut, the collection of photos and nasa artifacts were transferred from storage in kona to the historical exhibition at jcch. An estimated 10,000 students, teachers and visitors from hawaii, continental u. S. And japan have passed through the historical gallery and the honouluuli education center.

the tokioka heritage resource center continued to serve as a valuable resource to researchers, students and families, with its special collections and archival documents related to the history japanese in hawaii. The resource center staff and volunteers translated books and memoirs of japanese leaders which led to the publication of haisho tenten: an internment odyssey, with university of hawaii press and a collection of internee poetry and excerpts from oral histories, "resilient spirit: voice of internees. " in addition to these publications, the resource center provides assistance to individuals researching their family histories, translation services of family registries and interpretation of japanese names. The resource center is open to the public five days each week and staffed by a librarian and team of retired librarians.