Right from Wrong: Learning the Lessons of Honouliuli (exhibition)

Wayside exhibition produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH) that debuted in 2011. The sixteen panel exhibition focuses on the Honouliuli detention camp and JCCH's efforts to preserve the site and tell the story of Hawai'i's World War II Japanese American internees. Funding for the exhibition came from a grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program and from the Island Insurance Foundation. JCCH contracted Mo'ili'ili Blind Fish Tank (MBFT) Media to produce the exhibition. Arnold Hiura wrote the exhibition script and Stephen Doi designed and built it.

The exhibition is divided into four sections, each of which is mounted on a four-sided kiosk. "What Camp?" explores the history of Japanese American from Hawai'i who were interned and of the Honouliuli detention camp. "What's Left?" explores the archeology of the Honouliuli site and art and artifacts created by the internees. "Why Bother?" looks at the human story of several inmates and the implications for democracy. "What's Next?" looks at contemporary efforts to preserve the site and interpret the story.

The exhibition debuted at the 2011 Hawai'i Okinawan Festival in Kapi'olani Park. It has subsequently been displayed at Days of Remembrance and other events and in the JCCH courtyard.

Authored by Brian Niiya , Densho

For More Information

Kurahara, Jane, Brian Niiya, and Betsy Young. "Finding Honouliuli: The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and Preserving the Hawai'i Internment Story." Social Process in Hawai'i 44 (2013): 39–65.

Last updated Jan. 23, 2024, 10:44 p.m..