Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Aliʻiōlani Hale, Supreme Court
417 S King Street, Honolulu
5:30-7:30 PM (HST)
Dr. Gail Y. Okawa’s book—Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile: US Imprisonment of Hawai‘i’s Japanese in World War II—was inspired by questions raised by the internment of her grandfather Reverend Tamasaku Watanabe, the minister of Olaʻa Japanese Christian Church on Hawaiʻi Island when Japan attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor (Puʻuloa) on December 7, 1941. Her grandfather and several hundred of Hawaiʻi’s Japanese residents were arrested immediately following the attack and unjustly held captive for years in U.S. Justice and War Department camps scattered in remote locales across the US, including New Mexico.
Based on years of research into the experiences of individuals from Hawaiʻi, Dr. Okawa’s book tells the internees’ stories through firsthand accounts, letters, poetry, and official documents, chronicling their arrests, imprisonment, and return. Their stories reveal a significant legacy of resistance and perseverance while raising parallels with contemporary issues of racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, as Dr. Okawa will highlight in her illustrated talk.
Logan Narikawa, President of the Japanese American Citizens League – Honolulu Chapter, will moderate the program, and a brief reception in the rotunda of Aliʻiōlani Hale will conclude the event.
This program is cosponsored by the Japanese American Citizens League—Honolulu Chapter.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Gail Y. Okawa
Dr. Gail Y. Okawa is the author of Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile: US Imprisonment of Hawaiʻi’s Japanese in WWII, a composite chronicling of the Hawai‘i Japanese immigrant experience in mainland exile and internment during World War II. She is Professor Emerita of English at Youngstown State University-Ohio and coordinator of CONNECTIONS: Santa Fe Internment Camp Descendants Group. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Hawaiʻi: Mānoa’s Center for Biographical Research from 2003 to 2019, and scholar-in-residence for the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific American Program in 2002.
Logan Narikawa
With his family tracing their ancestral roots to the Japanese archipelago, Logan Narikawa is honored to be able to call Hawai’i his current Oceanic home. Logan is the President of the Japanese American Citizens League – Honolulu Chapter. He holds a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD from the American Studies department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research considers the relationships that have historically existed and might be achieved between Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi. This sort of new father and husband is convinced that we must act with audacious courage in order to deliver a more hopeful, compassionate and healthy world to our children.
Attend In Person:
Through Our Grandfathers’ Eyes: American World War II Internment From Sand Island, Hawaii to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Doors open: 5:15 PM
Program starts: 5:30 PM
Limited seating. Please cancel your reservation if you are unable to attend.
