Curt Otaguro: Brennon Morioka - Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

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6 First of Four public internment Workshops a success On June 5, an early morning shower greeted the Cultural Center staff at the Kaua‘i Museum. But thanks to the teru teru bōzu (paper or cloth doll believed to bring good weather) made by Chris Faye from the Kaua‘i Museum, the brief Hawaiian blessing was followed by a beautiful day for the first of four public internment workshops. The Cultural Center, in partnership with the Kaua‘i Museum, the Educa tion through Cultural and Historical Organizations (ECHO) grant and with the help of Kaua‘i friends and relatives, presented fascinating informa tion and heart wrenching stories of the Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i internment during World War II to over 80 people in attendance. Teachers and librarians represented each public high school, a private school, Kaua‘i Community College (KCC), a public library and a museum on Kaua‘i. The workshop presented three starter instructional units aligned to the DOE Social Studies WWII internment benchmarks. The day included a presentation of the short video “Honouliuli: Hawai‘i’s Hidden Internment Camp” that consists of interviews with a former internee, children, and grandchildren of internees. Presenters for the workshop included Brian Niiya, JCCH director of program develop ment, Betsy Young, JCCH staff emeritus, Alan Rosenfeld, UH West Oahu, Norman Osumi, the son of the late Reverend Paul Osumi, and Roy Miyake, who has done extensive re search on the Kaua‘i internees. The audience responded that the workshop was “excellent,” “top notch” and it “provided a wealth of information and healing.” The afternoon teacher/librarian workshop was also well attended and well received. Three starter instructional units aligned to the Department of Education (DOE) Social Studies WWII internment benchmarks for the courses on U.S. History, Modern History of Hawai‘i and Participation in Democracy were presented by Mary Chun, Waialua High School teacher, and the members of the JCCH Resource Center. The participants were given classroom display panels of the “Dark Clouds Over Paradise: The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit and the accompanying History Sleuth activity. Workshops on the Big island and Maui are scheduled for July and October (see below). For more information, please call Education Specialist Derrick Iwata at (808) 945-7633 Ext. 25 or email him at iwata@jcch.com. Big isLAnD In partnership with: National Park Service, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Go For Broke National Education Center, Hawai‘i Japanese Center Friday, July 9, 2010 (Teacher Workshop and Public Session) • Kīlauea Military Camp • 9:30 am–3:30 pm teacher Workshop: 9:30 am–12:00 pm Public Session: 1:00–3:30 pm Session will include an overview of Hawai‘i’s WWII Internment Story, a DVD presentation of “Honoluliuli: Hawai‘i’s Hidden Intern ment Camp,” a presentation MAui In partnership with: Go For Broke National Education Center, Nisei Veterans Memorial Center by the National Park Service and a visit to the Kīlauea Military Camp detention camp site. Saturday, July 10, 2010 (Public Session Only) • Hawai‘i Japanese Center • 10:00 am–12:00 pm Session will include an overview of Hawai‘i’s WWII Internment Story, a DVD presentation of “Honouliuli: Hawai‘i’s Hidden Internment Camp,” a presentation of a forth coming publication regarding Otokichi Ozaki’s papers by Gail Honda, and a talk-story session. Saturday, October 9, 2010 • nisei Veterans Memorial Center • time: tBD (Check September issue of Legacies for updated information.) Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i UPCOMING EVENTS Save the Date! Join us for a presentation by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi centered on his latest book, which takes a fresh look at War Reloca tion Authority (WRA) photographs of the “resettlement” of Japanese Americans released from wartime confinement. Professor Hirabayashi will be joined by Hikaru Carl Iwasaki, who worked as a photographer for the War Relocation Authority and who took many of the photographs in the book. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi is the George and Sakaye Aratani professor of Japanese American Internment, Redress, and Community at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the author of several books on the Japanese American World War II experience. Hikaru Carl Iwasaki was the only full-time photographer of Japanese ancestry in the WRA’s photographic section, 1943–46. He later became an acclaimed photojournalist, whose work has appeared in Life, Time, Sports Illustrated, and People. SAVE tHE DAtE! August 14: Book talk and Signing Gallery theater, 10:30 am to noon Lane ryo Hirabayashi’s Japanese American Resettlement Through the Lens: Hikaru Carl Iwasaki and the WRA’s Photographic Section, 1943–1945 September 12: Panel Discussion • Manoa Grand Ballroom, 5th Floor • 1:30 to 3:30 pm Japanese American Social issues Series in Hawai‘i: no Shame!: talking About the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/transgender Japanese American Experience in Hawai‘i You are invited to a program on the unique issues Japanese American members of the GLBT community face featuring a keynote address by famed actor George takei followed by a panel discussion. Panelists will include Jo Chang, Micah Inoue, Kim Coco Iwamoto, George Takei Camaron Mikio Jimenez Miyamoto, and Rae Watanabe and will be moderated by Christine R. Yano, Ph.D. See our September Legacies for more on this provocative program. Co-sponsored by the Equality Hawai‘i Foundation, Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i, and Japanese American Citizens League—Honolulu Chapter.
125 Years in Hawai‘i: A Calligraphy Exhibition by Ryuho Hamano July 10–September 3, 2010 Community Gallery Renowned Calligrapher ryuho Hamano will showcase his exhibi tion titled 125 Years in Hawai‘i to com me morate the 125th anniversary of the beginning of large scale Japanese migration to Hawai‘i in 1885. Below, Hamano outlines his reasons for taking on this ambitious project, as translated by Tatsumi Hayashi. “I got to know Sara Sawada, a nisei who volunteers for the Cultural Center, when I traveled to Honolulu. At her request, my first calligraphy class was held in February 2000 at Mililani High School. Given writing brushes donated by the City of Toyohashi which is known for its production, the tense looks of the students turned to smiles. I felt the nostalgic sentiments of the AJAs on their ancestors’ motherland. Their ancestors migrated to Hawai‘i with Public Programs for 125 Years in Hawai‘i Co-organized with the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu July 10: Opening Reception Community Gallery, 11:30 am July 27: Holehole Bushi: Song of the Canefields • 5th Floor Lounge, 7:00–8:30 pm n Join Franklin Odo, Ph.D., former chairman of ethnic studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and author of a forthcoming book on Holehole Bushi in Hawai‘i, along with filmmaker Chris Conybeare, for a program exploring songs of labor and life composed and sung by Japanese sugar plantation workers. Based on songs and interviews collected by the late Harry Urata, the program will also serve as a tribute to Urata. A short clip from Conybeare’s accompanying documentary, Holehole Bushi: Songs of the Canefields (working title) will also be screened. August 21: reflections on 125 Years of Japanese immigration • 5th Floor Lounge, 1:30–3:30 pm n A panel discussion featuring both academic and public historians will highlight differing historical perspectives on the large scale immigration from Japan to Hawai‘i that began 125 years ago. Confirmed panelists include Mark McNally, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of History at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, on the impact of immigration from the Japanese standpoint; Palani Vaughan, musician and public historian, Ryuho Hamano proudly displayed his many masterpieces at a recent show in Sapporo. ambi tions more than 100 years ago. They struggled through the days of hardship beyond our imagi nation. Their pioneer spirits have been passed on from generation to generation and the AJAs in Hawai‘i are now a vital part of the islands. Now they are in their third and fourth generation and the images of Japan are fading away among them. I decided to have my calligraphy exhibit at the Cultural Center this year to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Kanyaku Imin. Over 1,060 family names of those who migrated to Hawai‘i are written on the 24 sheets of cotton cloth (3 meters x 2 meters). I also engraved seals which are rendered with my thought on the group of the Japanese who migrated on the first ship. The fragrance of sumi (Chinese ink) and the space filled with black and white—I hope you will feel something with your eyes, nose, skin and body.” Ryuho, April 2010 on King Kalākaua and the impact of immigration from the Hawaiian standpoint; Kelli Nakamura, Ph.D., lecturer at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Kapi‘olani Community College and Windward Community College, on Yeiko Minobe So and domestic abuse in the issei community; Patsy Iwasaki, lecturer at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and author of Hidden Hero, on Katsu Goto and the continuing resonance of his story. August 25: Textured Lives: Barbara Kawakami, Japanese immigrant Clothing, and Picture Bride Stories • 5th Floor Lounge, 12:00–1:30 pm n Historian Barbara Kawakami has focused the second half of her life on the study of Japanese immigrant clothing and picture brides. Join us for a screening of documentary videos produced for Textured Lives, an exhibition currently on display at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), along with a discussion featuring Barbara herself, JANM Director Akemi Kikumura, Ph.D. and video producer Audrey Muromoto. August 28: Seal Making and Calligraphy Workshops • 5th Floor Lounge • Seal Making: 9:00 am–12:00 pm • Calligraphy: 1:30–4:30 pm: n Calligrapher Ryuho Hamano will conduct seal making (morning) and calligraphy (afternoon) workshops. Enrollment will be limited to 30 for each session. Cost of the classes are $20 for seal making and $15 for calligraphy. Cultural Center members receive a $5 discount. For reservations, call Christy Takamune at 945-7633, ext. 39 or e-mail takamune@jcch.com. MOriOKA (cont’d from p. 1) director of the Hawai‘i Republican Party, where he faced the frustrations of bureaucracy while trying to figure out how to expedite the completion of his projects. Morioka persevered and found his way through the public sector maze. After five years he can say it’s been enjoyable and he can see the benefits of his department’s hard work. He considers his accomplishments to include improving the roads, updates to the airport, outreach to the community, and changing the attitude of the department employees to be more proactive in listening to what the people in each community want, need and can live with and in so doing, reestablishing the trust with the public. His appointed term ends in December of this year and he plans to return to the private sector in 2011. Morioka’s interest in his Japanese heritage peaked during a visit to Japan as a member of the Japanese American Leadership Delegation in 2007. His father, Keith, has roots in Yamaguchi prefecture. His mother, Darleen (Gum) is half Chinese and Portuguese. Growing up, Morioka says he gravitated more to his Japanese side of the family attending obon festivals with his grandmother and enjoying Japanese foods. He learned the value of obligation in that everything you have comes from someone else’s sacrifice. His parents worked two jobs each and sacrificed so he, his brother and sister could get a good education. He also learned at an early age to show respect to others and to give back to the community. Asked about his hobbies, Morioka said he is consumed by his three children, Taysia who is 7 years old, and 5-year-old identical twins, Brayden and Bronson. He is married to his wife of 11 years, Jeanine. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing and has recently taken up stand up paddle boarding. As his children are getting older, Morioka wanted to share their Japanese background with them and has taken his family to our New Year’s ‘Ohana Festival, Kodomo no Hi/ Keiki Fun Fest and Shichi Go San. This experience also gave him an opportunity to relive his youth. He is not a stranger to the Cultural Center as he is a member of the Cultural Center’s Hawai‘i Confinement Sites Committee’s Advisory Group helping in their efforts to memorialize the Honouliuli internment campsite in Kunia with the National Park Service. “I am very flattered to be considered to serve on the board of directors. The Cultural Center is a terrific avenue for learning about our Japanese culture and more recent history of the issei (1st generation) and nisei (2nd generation)— it’s a great resource,” stated Morioka. 7
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Curt Otaguro: Brennon Morioka - Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

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