HAWAII JAPANESE CENTER

IN FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024, THE HAWAII JAPANESE CENTER (HJC) FOCUSED ITS EFFORTS ON SEVERAL KEY PROGRAMS:1) PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF HAWAII'S RICH MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH ITS COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS,PHOTOGRAPHS, BOOKS, AND DOCUMENTS DONATED BY THE COMMUNITY;2) INSPIRING AN APPRECIATION FOR HAWAII'S ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND ALOHA SPIRIT THROUGH PROGRAMS THAT ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH EXHIBITS, SPEAKERS, FILMS, WORKSHOPS, AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS; AND3) SHARING THE LESSONS OF OUR MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND PASSING THEM ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.GROWING ITS PROGRAMS FOLLOWING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, HJC EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT GROWTH INFISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 BOTH IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF EVENTS HELD AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IT SERVED.1) PRESERVATION: MANY HAWAII FAMILIES ARE PRESENTLY UNDERGOING A DRAMATIC GENERATIONAL SHIFT AS FAMILY ELDERS PASS ON. OFFSPRING ARE LEFT WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TAKING CARE OF FAMILY HOMES AND ARTIFACTS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE ON HAWAII ISLAND, WHICH STILL HAS MANY OLDER HOUSES RELATIVE TO OTHER HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. HJC HAS A GROWING REPUTATION FOR BEING ONE OF THE FEW ORGANIZATIONS THAT ACCEPTS DONATIONS OF USED ITEMS. HJC'S COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RECORDS THESE DONATIONS OF THE VINTAGE ARTIFACTS. HJC HAS ALSO RECEIVED DONATIONS OF HIGH-QUALITY SCANNING EQUIPMENT TO PRESERVE RARE AND FRAGILE MATERIALS IN ITS PHOTO AND DOCUMENT COLLECTION. HJC ALSO CONTINUES TO RECEIVE HELP FROM BILINGUAL VOLUNTEERS AND VISITING SCHOLARS FROM JAPAN IN ASSESSING AND CATALOGING HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTS. DURING THIS FISCAL YEAR, HJC HOSTED NOTED SCHOLARS FROM NINJAL (NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS), PROF. YOSHIYUKI ASAHI AND PROF. KOSUKE HARAYAMA.2) PROGRAMS: IN ADDITION TO ITS PERMANENT "SEEDS OF LOCAL" EXHIBIT, HJC FEATURED EXHIBITS SUCH AS THE KAMANA SENIOR CENTER ART SHOW. OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDED BOOK TALKS AND BOOK SIGNINGS BY DR. GAIL OKAWA, AUTHOR OF "REMEMBERING OUR GRANDFATHER'S EXILE." FILM SHOWING AND TALK, "GREAT GRANDFATHER'S DRUM" BY KAY FUKUMOTO, FOUNDER OF MAUI TAIKO. "CULTURE 4 KIDS" HANDS-ON CRAFTS WORKSHOP AND TALK BY AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR CAROLYN MORISHIGE. PIEPER TOYAMA, STORYTELLING AND TALK STORY FROM HIS BOOK, "FAMILY STORIES FROM THE PLANTATION AND BEYOND."3) EDUCATION: HJC RECEIVED FUNDING FROM THE TRIMBLE FOUNDATION TO ASSIST LOCAL SCHOOL GROUPS WITH THE COST OF VISITING THE CENTER'S EXHIBITS. THESE INCLUDED FOUR VISITS FROM WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES AND JAPANESE CLUB MEMBERS. FOUR HILO HIGH SCHOOL JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES AND JAPAN CLUB, AND WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSES. HJC ALSO HOSTED STUDENTS FROM HAWAII COMMUNITY COLLEGE, URAWA UNIVERSITY, AND KUMEJIMA HIGH SCHOOL FROM JAPAN.