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Hawai‘i Internee Database

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i (JCCH) is proud to provide this searchable directory of those of Japanese ancestry who were arrested and confined in the Territory of Hawai‘i during World War II. We have searched government records, military documents, internee memoirs, and historical publications, and have rigorously cross-checked the data to confirm its accuracy. This directory is part of a larger database, and its accuracy is very important to us as we are committed to documenting and educating the public about the incarceration of Japanese in Hawai‘i.

You will find the internee names, their place of residence in 1941, their occupation, the names of family members who were also incarcerated, and the name(s) of site(s) where they were imprisoned. We enhanced the directory with photographs, artifacts, and oral history transcripts that were available from the rich collection in JCCH’s Tokioka Heritage Resource Center.

Keep in mind that internees may have Romanized their names differently at different stages in their lives. To help your search, we have included romaji [Romanized character] variations that can be cross checked with the Japanese kana and kanji characters. Some internees also may have had Buddhist or artistic names, which we included where possible.