Japanese Internment and Relocation Files: The Hawaiʻi Experience, 1942-1982

Introduction

The Japanese Internment and Relocation Files: The Hawaiʻi Experience (JIRHE) includes government and private documents, oral histories, and photographs that document the experiences of Japanese internees from Hawaiʻi during World War II.

About the JIRHE

Under the guidance of Dr. Dennis Ogawa the Department of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collected these research materials concerning the internment and relocation of Japanese in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The American Studies Department presented the materials to Hamilton Library in 1984.

Scope and Content

JIRHE is comprised of 13 boxes of materials, most dating 1942-1945. Materials include government documents (many of which are copies of documents from the National Archives and Record Administration), correspondence, and other materials relating to the issues of Japanese internment and relocation in Hawaiʻi. Also included are taped oral history interviews and transcripts of 24 internees from Hawaiʻi, journals, diaries, literature, autobiographies, and photographs. Some Japanese language items are translated into English. Note that some diaries and interviews are not open to the public.

Finding Aid

A paper finding aid for the JIRHE records is available in the University Archives & Manuscripts Department’s Moir Reading Room.