In A Hidden Hawaiʻi Gulch, A Wartime Secret Opens To The Public

On December 7, 1941, martial law was imposed across the Hawaiian Islands following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. The FBI began arresting people, including American citizens with no criminal record. In March 1943, the largest and longest-operating wartime detention site in Hawaii, Honouliuli, opened in a remote gulch in central Oʻahu. It closed three years later.

Named "Hell Valley" by its prisoners for the oppressive heat, the camp was designated a National Historic Site in 2019 and opened to the public for the first time on July 18, 2021. Free guided tours are offered once a month to up to 22 people, with over 1,800 people already on the waiting list.

The camp held roughly 400 Japanese Americans arrested after Pearl Harbor, along with 4,000 Koreans, Okinawans, Italians, Germans, and other Europeans accused of disloyalty. Almost 40% of Hawaii's population was of Japanese descent, making it impractical to incarcerate them all. Selective choices were made, with influential community members, such as journalists, politicians, and religious leaders, targeted individually.

For decades, the camp remained hidden, with only memories of those who lived there. In the late 1990s, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii began searching for the site, leading to its designation as a National Monument in 2015. The National Park Service's superintendent, Christine Ogura, emphasized the importance of preserving the history of Honouliuli, stating that the story is not just one of the mainland, but also an integral part of Hawaii's history.