Hawai I Japanese Center

THE HAWAII JAPANESE CENTER SERVES AS A BRIDGE FOR DIVERSE GENERATIONS OF THE FUTURE TO UNDERSTAND THE TRIUMPHS AND STRUGGLES OF JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS TO THE ISLAND OF HAWAII THROUGH ITS EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND ACCESS TO ITS COLLECTIONS OF RESOURCES.

IN FY2022-2023, THE HAWAII JAPANESE CENTER (HJC) FOCUSED ITS EFFORTS ON SEVERAL KEY PROGRAMS:1) PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF HAWAII'S RICH MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH ITS COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS,PHOTOGRAPHS, BOOKS, AND DOCUMENTS DONATED BY THE COMMUNITY;2) INSPIRING AN APPRECIATION FOR HAWAII'S ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND ALOHA SPIRIT THROUGH PROGRAMS THAT ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH EXHIBITS, SPEAKERS, FILMS, WORKSHOPS, AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS; AND3) SHARING THE LESSONS OF OUR MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND PASSING THEM ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.GROWING ITS PROGRAMS FOLLOWING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, HJC EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT GROWTH INFY2022-2023 BOTH IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF EVENTS HELD AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IT SERVED.1) PRESERVATION: MANY HAWAII FAMILIES ARE PRESENTLY UNDERGOING A DRAMATIC GENERATIONAL SHIFTS AS FAMILY ELDERS PASS ON. OFFSPRING ARE LEFT WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TAKING CARE OF FAMILY HOMES AND ARTIFACTS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE ON HAWAII ISLAND, WHICH STILL HAS MANY OLDER HOUSES STILL STANDING. HJC IS ONE OF THE FEW ORGANIZATIONS THAT ACCEPTS DONATIONS OF USED ITEMS. HJC HAS SECURED FUNDING TO HIRE A COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT TO CARE FOR VINTAGE ARTIFACTS IT COLLECTS. HJC HAS ALSO HIRED A DIGITIZATION COORDINATOR AND RECEIVED DONATIONS OF HIGH-QUALITY SCANNING EQUIPMENT TO PRESERVE RARE AND FRAGILE MATERIALS IN ITS COLLECTION. HJC ALSO CONTINUES TO RECEIVE HELP FROM BILINGUAL VOLUNTEERS AND VISITING SCHOLARS FROM JAPAN IN ASSESSING AND CATALOGING HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTS.2) PROGRAMS: IN ADDITION TO ITS PERMANENT "SEEDS OF LOCAL" EXHIBIT, HJC FEATURED EXHIBITS AS VARIED AS THE WORLD-TRAVELING "MANGA, HOKUSAI, MANGA" EXHIBIT PRODUCED BY THE JAPAN FOUNDATION TO THE HOMEGROWN KAMANA SENIOR CENTER ART SHOW. BOTH WERE WELL-ATTENDED AND ATTRACTED VERY DIFFERENT AUDIENCES.OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDED BOOK TALKS BY DR. GAIL OKAWA, AUTHOR OF "REMEMBERING OUR GRANDFATHER'S EXILE, AND FILM SHOWINGS, SUCH AS "GREAT GRANDFATHER'S DRUM" BY KAY FUKUMOTO,FOUNDER OF THE MAUI TAIKO TROUPE.3) EDUCATION: TEACHER WORKSHOPS WERE HELD AT HJC IN HILO AND AT THE PACIFIC AND ASIAN AFFAIRS COUNCIL (PAAC) TEACHER'S WORKSHOP HELD AT THE EAST-WEST CENTER ON OAHU. HJC RAISED FUNDS TO ASSIST LOCAL SCHOOL GROUPS WITH THE COST OF VISITING THE CENTER'S EXHIBITS. THESE INCLUDED WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES AND JAPANESE CLUB MEMBERS. HILO HIGH SCHOOL JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES AND JAPAN CLUB, AND WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSES. HJC ALSO HOSTED STUDENTS FROM HAWAII COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND VOLCANO CHARTER SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM MUSASHI UNIVERSITY, URAWA UNIVERSITY, AND KUMEJIMA HIGH SCHOOL WERE SOME OF THE GROUPS WHO VISITED FROM JAPAN.