Dan Tooru Nishikawa Archival Collection

Dan Nishikawa was a journalist, artist, and musician (singer and orchestra leader). Included in the first box in this collection are miscellaneous photos, correspondence, and news articles about Dan Toru Nishikawa and his family. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nishikawa was sent first to the Sand Island Camp and then to Honouliuli Internment Camp. He recorded life inside both camps through his drawings and writings. (Note: The Resource Center also has original art works and shell crafts by Nishikawa done at Sand Island and Honouliuli Internment Camps.) Also included are newspaper articles in Japanese about the internment of Japanese Americans from Hawaii; several of Dan Nishikawa’s drawings of camp life are among the illustrations. The collection’s second box primarily includes documents focusing on Dan Toru Nishikawa as a talented musician, who had a passion for promoting Japanese music in Hawaii. This box includes his musical arrangements, photos of his Japanese orchestra, newspaper articles and photos pertaining to Japanese singing competitions in which Nishikawa was a judge, and his handwritten contestant scores. It also contains haiku poems and calligraphy art that were given to him from friends.

For more information, please visit the JCCH online catalog. You can contact the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i about these images at resource.center@jcch.com.