Who We Are

After The Hawai‘i Herald closed in December 2023 after 43 years of sharing Japanese American stories in Hawaii, former editors Jodie Chiemi Ching and Kristen Nemoto Jay and former staff writer Summer Nakaishi felt there were still more stories to be told. Through a friend, Ching was able with Zentoku Foundation president Mark Nakakihara to […]

Broken Promise – A Hawai‘i Family WWII Incarceration Story

Guest Author Daniel Nakasone Back in 2018, I walked the somber halls of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Prior to my visit, I had read stories and viewed survivors’ interviews, documentaries and films on the atrocities of the Holocaust. Still, walking through the exhibits with horrific stories and haunting images along […]

HJCC Cherry Blossom Festival, A Meaningful Connection to Japanese Heritage

Guest Author HJCC Cherry Blossom Festival About the Festival The Cherry Blossom Festival is a project of the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce and holds the honor of being one of the longest, continually running ethnic festivals in Hawaiʻi. In 1949, Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce (HJJCC) Vice President Akira “Sunshine” Fukunaga returned […]

JWSF Fundraiser Fashions Show Features Local Upcycling Designers

“REVIVE, RENEW, REBIRTH” was the theme of the Japanese Women’s Society Foundation’s fundraiser fashion show at the Prince Waikiki, Honolulu. On Sunday, April 28, women (and a handful of men) filled the boutique and silent auction areas outside the banquet hall doors. By 9 a.m. the pre-event shopping was alive with shoppers and bidders filling […]

Generations

In an effort to help bridge the gap between generations of Japanese Americans, we asked William “Bill” Kaneko (Sansei), Nate Gyotoku (Yonsei) and Jacqueline Kojima (Gosei), to define, in each of their perspectives, what it’s like to be of their generation. Their answers, unique of their own experience and upbringing, shares the cohesive understanding of gratitude […]