Removed by Force: The Eviction of Hawai`i's Japanese Americans During WWII (film)

Documentary film by Ryan Kawamoto about Japanese Americans in Hawai'i who were excluded or removed from their homes, but not interned, along with the 1990s efforts by the Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League to secure redress for this group under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 .

The first third of the film looks briefly at the history of Japanese Americans in Hawai'i before delving into the story of Japanese Americans from twenty-three geographic areas in Hawai'i who were excluded from their homes, farms, and businesses at night, but allowed to run their farms and businesses during the day. The story focuses on the Uyeda family, who ran a shoe store in Iwilei; the Tanaka family, who lived in Wahiawa; and the Nishioka family, who farmed in Pu'uloa. There is also a brief summary of mass incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast and selective internment of Japanese Americans from Hawai'i during World War II.

The rest of the film looks at the discovery of their stories in the early 1990s, and the work by Honolulu JACL and pro bono lawyers who helped them qualify for monetary reparations. The film also includes a segment on the post-redress civil rights work of the chapter.

In addition to interviews with family member affected by the exclusion and lawyers and staff of the Office of Redress Administration , writer/director Ryan Kawamoto uses animation to illustrate some of the scenes as recalled by the family members.

Commissioned by the Honolulu JACL and based on a book by William Kaneko and Sara Lin, Removed By Force was funded by a $150,000 grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program along with support from the Bank of Hawai'i, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Island Insurance Companies.

The film premiered on June 29, 2023 at the Hawai'i Convention Center and was screened throughout the island subsequently. It was aired on PBS Hawai'i in September 2023.

Might also like Right of Passage (2015); The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii (2006); The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai`i (2012)