Book launch celebration on November 11

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
M Kodama-Nishimoto, (808) 956-6165
Rsch Assoc, Ctr for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute
Warren Nishimoto, (808) 956-6260
Director, Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute
Posted: Oct 27, 2009

Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai'i book cover
Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai'i book cover
Celebrate the third printing of the book, Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai`i, on Wednesday, November 11, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hawai`i Okinawa Center on 94-587 Ukee Street.  The event, co-sponsored by the University of Hawai`i's Center for Oral History, Center for Okinawan Studies, Center for Japanese Studies, and the Hawai`i United Okinawa Association, is free and open to the public.
 
Local actors Nyla Fujii-Babb and Dann Seki will present readings of issei oral histories from the book.  Light refreshments will be served and free parking is available.
 
Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai`i, features eighty- and ninety-year-old issei, first-generation immigrants, as they describe through interviews what it was like to pull up roots in their homeland and make new lives in the islands.  The story of the gradual development and progress of the Okinawan community is unfolded through articles on labor, religion, culture, business, agriculture, government, and community organizations.
 
The bookwas first published in 1981 and reprinted in 1984 through the combined resources of the University of Hawai`i's Center for Oral History (formerly the Ethnic Studies Oral History Project),  the Hawai`i United Okinawa Association (formerly the United Okinawan Association of Hawai`i), and many other contributors.  Out-of-print but still in demand after its second printing, it now enters its third printing.  Supported with a grant from the Japan Foundation and with assistance from the UH Center for Okinawan Studies and the UH Center for Japanese Studies, Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai‘i is distributed by the University of Hawai‘i Press.
  
Books will be available for purchase at the launch as well from the Hawai`i United Okinawa Association (phone: 676-5400, email: huoa@huoa.org) and from other book retailers; or by order from the University of Hawai`i Press (phone: 956-8255, email: uhpbooks@hawaii.edu, website: www.uhpress.hawaii.edu).