Historical Overview

Amid rising tensions in the Pacific during the second World War, the Japanese Imperial Army launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. This devastating event left 2,403 people dead and the naval fleet in tatters. Mere hours after the attack, martial law was declared in Hawaiʻi, and Japanese and European citizens were immediately arrested, guilty of nothing aside from looking like the enemy, although the vast majority targeted were Japanese. The detainment of American civilians under martial law was a contrast to that of the detainment of Japanese Americans on the mainland who were forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sand Island Detention Center opened as Hawaii's first incarceration site for Japanese Americans. Used primarily as a transfer center to continental camps or other camps in Hawaiʻi, up to 450 residents and dozens of prisoners of war were imprisoned here at its peak. This internment camp was in operation for fifteen months while Honouliuli was being constructed on the west side of Oʻahu. Sand Island was often considered the worst experience for many detainees due to camp conditions, inhumane practices, and weather.

There were many different types of incarceration sites in Hawaiʻi and on the continent, as Japanese civilians were shuffled across the country often times staying in temporary camps prior to their permanent site of incarceration. It is important to distinguish between these sites and understand their differences.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 into law. Under Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, Japanese Americans along the mainland's west coast were forcibly removed from their homes and detained in concentration camps across the west.

Remaining incarcerees who were incarcerated at Sand Island were moved to Honouliuli Internment Camp along with thousands of prisoners of war. Honouliuli saw around 4000 POWs and 400 citizens imprisoned at any given time. Most of the POWs were from Korea, Japan, and Okinawa, with a few being German and Italian.

A small number of women were incarcereated at Honouliuli where they were kept in a separate compound as the men. Americans who were incarcerated were selectively chosen because they were influential to the Japanese communities (Japanese language teachers, priests, politicians, etc.)

After three years in operation, Honouliuli internment camp finally closed its doors and released the people held there. Although they returned to their families and communities, re-integration was a long and emotionally painful journey. Unlike the mainland where entire families were interned together, only a select group of citizens were interned. Upon arriving home, they were often met with suspicion for being taken, born out of the assumption that if you had been taken you must be a traitor.

Prisoners of war were repatriated to their home countries. Some had found themselves partners and decided to return to or stay in Hawaiʻi to begin families and start anew.

The land where Honouliuli once stood was eventually leased to farming companies. Decades would pass before anyone would realize what had taken place there.

There were many on Oʻahu who knew of Honouliuli's existence, with articles and books naming it as the internment site on Oʻahu, including Ganbare! by Patsy Saiki and Waipahu at War by R.H. Lodge. However, the exact location of where the camp once stood remained a mystery.

One day in 1998, a volunteer of the Japanese Cultural Center named Jane Kurahara answered the phone to be met with a question from a local news station asking where the internment camp on Oʻahu had been. The news station was planning on airing the movie Schindler's List and wanted to concurrently highlight Oʻahu's internment site. At the time, the cultural center was not even aware of an internment site on Oʻahu at all. That phone call kicked off a years long search for the exact site of Honouliuli. It was found with the help of local farmers who recognized the aqueduct in the historical photos four years after the search began. Honouliuli had been found, never to be forgotten again.

For several years, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi managed and preserved the site. They partnered with archaeologists to uncover the aqueduct, the historic rock wall, and the foundation to what was once the mess hall, amongst many other artifacts. People began to recognize the historical significance of Honouliuli, and with the help of political figures in the community along with local organizations like Historic Hawai‘i Foundation, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, UH West O‘ahu, and others, they publicly advocated for the permanent protection of the park. President Obama historically signed Honouliuli into National Monument status after this grassroots movement, officially making it a National Park. The park service, with the help of the community and local organizations, continues to preserve and protect this historically significant site.

For more info, read: How A Lost Internment Camp Became A National Monument

Honouliuli was redesignated as a National Historic Site, a move made by Congress, further solidfying Honouliuli's significance to the culture and history of Hawaiʻi and the rest of America.

Since becoming a National Park, Honouliuli National Historic Site continues to partner with the community to shepard its history forward. Over 50 partners are connecting with Honouliuli National Historic Site for their 10th anniversary celebration. Each month, NPS will focus on a theme related to Honouliuli where these guests will contribute their expertise via in-person and virtual activities and events throughout the year to connect this powerful history to today's communities.