Plan Your Visit

Thank you for your interest in Honouliuli National Historic Site. Honouliuli National Historic Site is not open to the public as the land surrounding the park boundaries are privately owned and there is therefore no public road access into the park.

The park is working with our adjacent landowners to provide limited access to the public for educational purposes. To learn about these opportunities visit Get Involved as it will be updated when opportunities arise.

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Another Way to Visit Honouliuli National Historic Site

While the park itself is currently unavailable for public access, there are other ways to experience Honouliuli through not only our partners, but places directly associated with incarcerated civilians at Honouliuli.

Below contains a compiled list of places to visit and learn more about our park:

• American Institute of Architects (Honolulu Chapter) offers tours highlighting buildings that played a significant role in incarcerating Japanese Americans, including those held at Honouliuli.
• Hawaii's Plantation Village has an interactive exhibit on Honouliuli.
• The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i has a free exhibit on Honouliuli that also includes artifacts made by those incarcerated at the camp.
• The King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center has an exhibit on Martial Law, which was activated the afternoon of the Pearl Harbor attack and led to the arrests and incarceration of American citizens at Honouliuli.
• Konko Mission of Wahiawa is a mission that was created by one of the few women incarcerated at Honouliuli, Reverend Haruko Takahashi.
• The Pearl Harbor National Memorial Bookstore also houses the Honouliuli National Historic Site Bookstore where you will find an exhibit display and educational materials.
• A plaque dedicated to Sam Nishimura, an incarcerated civilian at Honouliuli, is located on the building of what used to be his tailor shop before his detainment. You can visit it in Haleiwa on the North Shore and read about it in North Shore News (page 2).

 

Nametags similar to what prisoners would have to wear at Honouliuli Internment Camp. Taken at Hawaii's Plantation Village

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A guard tower behind a barbed-wire fence at the Honouliuli exhibit at Hawaii's Plantation Village.

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Topographic display of Honouliuli Internment Camp at Hawaii's Plantation Village.

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A sign similar to what was used at Honouliuli Internment Camp. Taken at Hawaii's Plantation Village.

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Several incarcerated civilians at Honouliuli were employees of many institutions we find in Hawaii today. You will find many that are part of our daily lives and can be visited if open to the public. For example:

• Alf Hurum and his wife were held at Honouliuli. He was the conductor of the then 25 member Honolulu Symphony Orchestra (now the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra). Alf reorganized and enlarged the orchestra so that it became a full-fledged symphony orchestra of 70 members. The 1924-25 season consisted of 7 concerts, and Hurum conducted all of them. The HSO is also a partner in the park’s 10th anniversary.
• Rintaro Taguma worked for the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now the Honolulu Museum of Art) for decades helping with installations. HOMA is a partner in the park’s 10th anniversary.
• Uichi Morimoto was an employee of the Halekulani hotel.
• Inazo Noda was a janitor at the Bishop Museum. The Bishop Museum is a partner in the park’s 10th anniversary.
• Head chef of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
• Frederick Berg, German American, worked at Sears
• Ichitaro Ozaki, a WWI veteran, was a chauffeur and Yasumasa Murata was a clerk for the Japanese Consulate General of Japan
• Tetsuo Oi was with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce
• Edward Tsubaki worked at Hawaiian Dredging Co.
• Shinfuku Gima was the President of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association
• Yasue Takahashi worked at KZOO/KAIM radio
• People who were incarcerated or family members impacted by those incarcerated attended schools that still exist today such as Aliiolani Elementary School, Sacred Hearts Academy, Mid-Pacific Institute, Punahou, and others
• Though not incarcerated himself, Hilo Bank of Hawaii branch manager Andrew Anderson helped to get an incarcerated individual, James Omizo, released from Honouliuli.

The following Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines that still exist today had their leaders incarcerated at Honouliuli:

• Zenkyo Komagata, Soto Mission of Hawaii
• Ryuto Tsuda, Todaiji Hawaii Bekkaku Honzan
• Waialua Hongwanji
• Houn Tamayose, Higashi Hongwanji
• Kenju Ohtomo, Honpa Hongwanji Mission
• Haruko Takahashi, Konko Mission

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To read more about the history of Honouliuli and learn about what the park service is doing to celebrate its 10th anniversary, please click the links below: