FILM TO SHARE STORY OF MAUI INTERNMENT CAMPS
Ryan Kawamoto interviewed Dr. Seiya Ohata last October at his Kula residence. Michael Tanji, also with Kinetic Productions Inc., assisting with the camera and sound.
F
ilm director Ryan Kawamoto of Honolulu-based
resident Michael Munekiyo about his father’s account of
Kinetic Productions Inc. spent a day on Maui last
the camps during the war.
October interviewing two Maui residents whose fathers
Recently, the story of Dr. Ohata’s father, Dr. Seiichi
were incarcerated during World War II. Their interviews
Ohata, was featured in the NVMC Education Center’s
will be part of an upcoming film series sponsored by the
2014 internment exhibit. Plans are underway to unveil the
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i (JCCH) about the
additional stories of Shigeji Terada (Okuda’s father) and
internment camps of the neighbor islands.
Toshio Munekiyo in fall 2017 or spring 2018, coinciding with
In 2012, Kawamoto wrote and directed the film, “The Untold Story,” about the Honouliuli Internment Camp on
the release of Kawamoto’s new film. In addition to his work on special feature films,
O‘ahu. While on Maui he met with Mildred Okuda and Dr.
Kawamoto recently produced the Island Insurance
Seiya Ohata to learn about their fathers’ experiences in
television ads featuring Hawai‘i NFL quarterback Marcus
addition to visiting the Wailuku and Haiku camp sites on
Mariota. The director also mentors students working on
the island. Kawamoto is also planning to interview Maui
film stories for PBS Hawai‘i’s “Hiki No” series.
Maui Nisei Veterans Center Visitors Three Kahului School classmates visited the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) exhibit in early November 2016. They gathered with other Kahului School classmates for a mini class reunion.
From left, Allan Morimoto, son of STAFF SERGEANT MUNAKI MORIMOTO who served as an MIS voice interceptor; Lester Katahara, son of CAPTAIN SADAMI KATAHARA, Company B, 100th Infantry Battalion; and Ted Kesaji, son-in-law of PRIVATE NOBORU SUGAHARA who served as a rifleman in the 100th Infantry Battalion. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLAN MORIMOTO
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