Hawaii Japanese Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
470863357
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Hilo, HI, USA
Phone
8089349611
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$61,982
Expenses
$254,065
Assets
$820,098
Liabilities
$360,084

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ARNOLD HIURA (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ARNOLD HIURA (PRESIDENT): $24,700 total reported compensation
  • ELOISE HIURA (TREASURER): $11,856 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The center's mission is to honor the legacy of japanese immigrants to Hawaii by:-preserving records and artifacts relating to the history of the japanese in Hawaii.-educating current and future generations about the struggles, sacrifices and successes of their immigrant forebears.-serving as a bridge to foster understanding and collaborative research between Hawaii and japan.-sharing the japanese culture through the center's educational and cultural activities.the center's goal is by preserving the past, it can serve as a resource for people of all backgrounds to learn about and appreciate the history of the japanese in Hawaii and the contributions that the immigrants from japan made in Hawaii's history.

What it reported doing in 2023

In fiscal year 2023-2024, the Hawaii japanese center (hjc) focused its efforts on several key programs:1) preserving the history of Hawaii's rich multicultural heritage through its collection of artifacts, photographs, books, and documents donated by the community;2) inspiring an appreciation for Hawaii's ethnic diversity and aloha spirit through programs that engage the community through exhibits, speakers, films, workshops, and cultural programs; and3) sharing the lessons of our multicultural society and passing them on to future generations.growing its programs following the covid-19 pandemic, hjc experienced significant growth infiscal year 2023-2024 both in terms of the number of events held and the number of people it served.1) preservation: many Hawaii families are presently undergoing a dramatic generational shift as family elders pass on. Offspring are left with the responsibility of taking care of family homes and artifacts. This is especially true on Hawaii island, which still has many older houses relative to other hawaiian islands. Hjc has a growing reputation for being one of the few organizations that accepts donations of used items. Hjc's collections assistant records these donations of the vintage artifacts. Hjc has also received donations of high-quality scanning equipment to preserve rare and fragile materials in its photo and document collection. Hjc also continues to receive help from bilingual volunteers and visiting scholars from japan in assessing and cataloging historically significant photos and documents. During this fiscal year, hjc hosted noted scholars from ninjal (national institute of japanese language and linguistics), prof. Yoshiyuki asahi and prof. Kosuke harayama.2) programs: in addition to its permanent "seeds of local" exhibit, hjc featured exhibits such as the kamana senior center art show. Other programs included book talks and book signings by dr. Gail okawa, author of "remembering our grandfather's exile." film showing and talk, "great grandfather's drum" by kay fukumoto, founder of maui taiko. "culture 4 kids" hands-on crafts workshop and talk by author and educator carolyn morishige. Pieper toyama, storytelling and talk story from his book, "family stories from the plantation and beyond."3) education: hjc received funding from the trimble foundation to assist local school groups with the cost of visiting the center's exhibits. These included four visits from waiakea high school japanese language classes and japanese club members. Four hilo high school japanese language classes and japan club, and waiakea high school social studies classes. Hjc also hosted students from Hawaii community college, urawa university, and kumejima high school from japan.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 55.1%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -309.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.23; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 55.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $140K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $25K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.