A monument featuring the work of Nina Akamu, it was erected as a Memorial to those who suffered during World War 2. This includes people such as Amaku's grandfather, on her mother's side, who was arrested in Hawaii during the internment program. He was sent to a relocation camp on Sand Island in Pearl Harbor. Wikipedia states that According to the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation the memorial:

...is symbolic not only of the Japanese American experience, but of the extrication of anyone from deeply painful and restrictive circumstances. It reminds us of the battles we've fought to overcome our ignorance and prejudice and the meaning of an integrated culture, once pained and torn, now healed and unified. Finally, the monument presents the Japanese American experience as a symbol for all peoples.