Opened in 1943, the Hononuliuli camp was the lone permanent internment camp during World War II for Japanese in Hawaii. Following its closure, the camp was lost in history and went unstudied for many years. In 1998, a news reporter opened the public’s eye to the camp and began a re-investigation of the camp. Using a former prisoner’s diary, other prisoners’ interviews and memories, this paper makes the case for Honouliuli’s inclusion in the greater internment corpus. By analyzing various factors of Honouliuli compared to the various camps in the continental United States, we can see similarities and differences. From the isolation of the prisoners, to the cultural practices that made camp home, many factors make the Japanese American internment camps an intriguing space. The story of Honouliuli does not fall neatly into the two dominant narratives of Japanese American internment, but instead complicates what it meant to be a Japanese American at the time.
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