How life in Hawaii dramatically transformed after the Pearl Harbor attack

By Tom Wilmer

Published December 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM PST

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Hickham airfield aftermath of Japanese Attack on December 7, 1941

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941 Marshall Law was declared in Honolulu, but very few residents of Japanese descent were ever interned.

Across the Hawaiian Islands, all U.S. currency was confiscated with Hawaiian war money issued in exchange.

Hawaiian war currency issued following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor

A curfew remained in effect for most of the war and unlike California coastal residents of Japanese descent, surprisingly very few Japanese-American Hawaiian residents were interned following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Civil Defense drills for residents of Hawaii were common following the December 7th attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a visit with Bishop Museum historian DeSoto Brown to learn the rest of the story about life in the Hawaiian Islands during WWII.

This show is reposted as a "best-of-the-best" Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer broadcast in celebration of 36 years producing travel shows for California Central Coast NPR affiliate KCBX.

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