Honouliuli National Historic Site Opens to the Public for First-Time Guided Tours

For Immediate Release: June 4, 2026

Contact: hono_superintendent@nps.gov

WAIPAHU, Hawaiʻi – For the first time and in partnership with Hawaii’s Plantation Village, the public will be able to visit Honouliuli National Historic Site through limited, guided tours starting July 18, as the park marks 80 years since the internment camp closed in 1946.  

Tours are a part of a series of special events and activities from June through September, developed with community partners to commemorate the site’s history and expand public access. 

Tour details are available on the park’s Plan Your Visit webpage.

Additional highlights include:

• Documentary screenings and panel discussions: Voices Behind Barbed Wire: Stories of Hawaiʻi, followed by conversations with director Ryan Kawamoto of Kinetic Productions, Carole Hayashino former president and executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi which also produced the film, and park superintendent Christine Ogura.  This event will be held on Kauaʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Hawaiʻi islands.  Dates, times and locations are posted on the park website.

• Pop-up exhibits at public libraries: In partnership with the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, exhibits will be hosted at these public libraries: Kailua-Kona, Hilo, Līhuʻe, Molokaʻi, Wailuku, and Lānaʻi during the documentary screening month.

• Special performances: In partnership with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, members of the orchestra will be playing pieces inspired by a violin used at the camp in conjunction with an Oʻahu documentary film screening.

• Speaker series: Virtual and in-person talks exploring remembrance through art, architecture, institutions, the legal system, and technology.   

• Finale event (Sept. 27): A closing program at the Hawaiʻi Theatre featuring members of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony, taiko master Kenny Endo, and acclaimed ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro, who will debut an original composition inspired by Honouliuli. 

Event updates are available on the park’s website and social media channels. Facebook, and Instagram.

All events are supported by Pacific Historic Parks, the park’s philanthropic partner who supports Honouliuli National Historic Site in preservation, interpretation, education, research, and visitor services.

Honouliuli National Historic Site tells the story of incarceration, martial law, and prisoners of war in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The incarceration site, opened in 1943, was the largest and longest used incarceration site in Hawaiʻi where U.S. residents and citizens of Japanese and European ancestry were unjustly detained. The camp also held over 4,000 prisoners of war from Okinawa, Korea, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

nps.gov

About the National Park Service.  Established in 1916, the National Park Service preserves America’s most treasured natural and cultural places for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of current and future generations. Learn more at nps.gov.