The Honouliuli POW and Internment Camp opened in March of 1943. It was the largest of 13
incarceration sites in Hawai’i with over 4,000 POWs and 300 civilians incarcerated
through the duration of the war. It would close in January 1946.
In the early 1990s, renewed interest in the internment/incarceration experience of Japanese
Americans prompted the search to locate the specific location of Honouliuli. In 2002, the
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH) and researchers Jane Kurahara and Betsy Young
embarked on an archaeological project of Honouliuli beginning with the usage of archived maps.
In 2015, President Barack Obama designated Honouliuli as a National
Monument with site management transferred to the National Park Service. In 2019, the park was Congressional established as a National Historic Site.
Pacific Historic Parks, in collaboration with the NPS and other organizations,
seeks to tell the stories of the incarcerated and POW experience as well as facilitate the broader
discussion of incarceration in Hawai’i during World War II.
We hope you will join us in honoring and preserving the history of Honouliuli and its inhabitants, as we work to ensure that the experiences of those affected by World War II's incarceration and POW camps are remembered for generations to come.