The Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) and Contemporary Arts Theater Scene (CATS), in conjunction with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i, present the first full-length documentary chronicling the WWII internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai`i. 

Within 48 hours of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawai`i authorities arrested several hundred local residents, targeting Buddhist priests, Japanese language-school officials, newspaper editors, business and community leaders. In total, more than 2,000 men and women of Japanese ancestry were arrested, detained, and interned at 13 different confinement sites located in Hawai`i. There was no evidence of espionage or sabotage, and no charges were ever filed against them. The Untold Story, produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i, chronicles their story through oral histories, documents, interviews, and reenactments. 

“While people have heard of places like Manzanar and Tule Lake, the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated on the mainland, few people are familiar with places like Honouliuli, Kalaheo Stockade, or that Japanese Americans were held at the Kilauea Military Camp during WWII,” said Carole Hayashino, president and executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i. 

“Our film, The Untold Story, helps to ensure that the experience of over 2,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in Hawai`i who were picked up and imprisoned simply because of their ancestry is not forgotten.” 

Hayashino and Jane Kurahara, JCCH staff associate, will be at the screening to discuss the continuing efforts to preserve Hawaii`s confinement sites and to answer questions from the audience. 

Cost: Ticket required ($5 donation). For tickets or more information, contact JAMsj atPublicPrograms@jamsj.org or call CATS at (408) 867-4525.

The film was made possible through a lead grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program through the National Park Service and matching funds provided by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i, Island Insurance Foundation, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and the Japanese American Citizens League - Honolulu Chapter.