LOCAL MOVIE: OKAGESAMA DE - HAWAII NISEI WOMENS TRAJECTORY ALL AGES

Producer Hiroyuki Matsumoto from Japan will be in attendance at the showing and has interviewed some of Honokaa and Big Island community which is featured in the film:

https://vimeo.com/711528753　Trailer

The documentary movie, "Okagesama de - Hawaii Nikkei Women’s Trajectory"  preserves and tells the stories of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. This follows "Go for Broke! Memories of Hawaii Japanese Nisei" which was completed in 2012. These two films describe the journey of Japanese immigrants from hardship and triumph to their lasting influence on Hawaiian and American culture.

From the Producer: After producing "Go for Broke!", We continued to interact with the Nisei veterans. In the process, I got to know Nisei women as well. And when I casually listened to their stories about the past, I learned that many of them had gone through the same hardships as the Issei.” We asked, “Don’t we also need a film that preserves women’s history and gambari (effort)?” And we recorded interview on themes such as ‘immigration,’ ‘Nisei living conditions,’ ‘women during World War II,’ ‘social advancement,’ ‘politics,’ and ‘culture.’ The 100th Battalion Veteran’s Club and the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Maui helped me with this.” We want people to know the history (we call it Herstory) and "Gambari(effort)" of Japanese women who crossed the ocean to Hawaii and Japanese American women were born in Hawaii.