Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

On our trip to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, we were able to see many interesting things. The first thing we did was watch a short film called "Ganbare". Ganbare means don't give up. The video was about the Japanese Americans being interned. We also saw some artifacts that Japanese Americans brought to Hawaii over the years. For example, they brought the mochi pounder and the Maneki Neko Cats. These cats brought good fortune to stores. WHY IS MY LOYALTY QUESTIONED?? This is a question that many Japanese Americans found themselves asking. The American government thought that the Japanese Americans would not be loyal to America after the terrible tragedy on Pearl Harbor. Okage Sama De means "I am what I am because of you." In other words, you have made a big influence on me. This saying applies to many people of all different ancestry. This is a poem written by a Japanese man. In this poem, he expresses his feelings. This man was a principal of a Japanese language school. He explained that Japanese living in America should pledge their loyalty to America. We really enjoyed our trip to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.