History

The “People of the First Year” Were Hawai‘i’s First Japanese Immigrants Kei Suzuki Re-edited from “Hawai‘i’s AJA Pioneers” Editor’s note: The year 2018 marks 150 years since the Gannenmono, or “First-Year People,” arrived in Hawai‘i in June 1868. This first group of immigrants planted the seeds of today’s Japanese community in Hawai‘i. This milestone anniversary....

An Artist’s Portal to Old Japan Alan Suemori Special to The Hawai‘i Herald In August 1832, the remarkable ukiyoe artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) set off on a journey on the Tökaidö Road that would change his life...

Lynn Heirakuji Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Writer’s Note: The Hawai‘i Herald Editor, Kristen Nemoto Jay, asked me to write an article about 9/11 because she knew that I had been in Washington, D.C., on that...

WHO/WHAT: The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center will present the Hawai‘i premiere of “TOYO: Behind the Glass Eye,” an exhibition of photographs by the prolific California photographer Toyo Miyatake. An issei from Kagawa Prefecture, he...

Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Telling Their Story Inside and Out Melissa Tanji Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Crisp, colorless images of young American soldiers of Japanese ancestry are coming to life on a concrete canvas on the windswept oceanfront campus of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. At the center, situated where the towns of Kahului and Wailuku meet,....

The 60th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Honolulu and Hiroshima City was commemorated — and reaffirmed — in several events on July 2. They included a signing ceremony in the Honolulu City Council chambers reaffirming the sister-city relationship, originally signed in 1959; a ceremonial tree planting and a reception. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and....

Gov. David Ige Published with Permission Editor’s note: Close to 450 people turned out to honor and celebrate the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team at its 74th anniversary banquet on March 26 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Of the roughly 442 people in attendance, 47 were World War II Japanese American veterans, all of whom....

Kevin Y. Kawamoto Special to The Hawai‘i Herald The University of Hawai‘i’s Center for Oral History on the Mänoa campus is open for business once again, and longtime Ethnic Studies Professor Davianna Pömaika‘ºi McGregor has stepped up to serve as the center’s new director. McGregor was among the early supporters of the Ethnic Studies Oral....

Forgotten ... and Now Remembered Karleen Chinen Originally published March 6, 1987 A woman lovingly arranges a bunch of fresh-cut flowers and leans them against the stark black and white wall. She brings her right hand up to her lips and tenderly kisses her fingertips as her eyes remain fixed on a name etched on....

Gregg K. Kakesako Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, whose paternal grandmother immigrated to Hawai‘i as a picture bride and whose father witnessed the start of America’s war with Japan from the kitchen window of his family’s Wahiawä home and went on to serve in the predominantly Nisei Military Intelligence Service....