Sunday, March 1 @ 3:00PM & 7:30 PM

In commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Written by Elizabeth Wong, and directed by Peter J. Kuo, Letters is about a decade-long correspondence between two pen pals and their search for true democracy. $15 members/Student/Seniors/Groups (10+); $20 for non-members.

PANEL DISCUSSION immediately following 3:00 PM matinee show with:
Playwright Elizabeth Wong
Chairwoman of Visual Artists Guild and recipient of the 2009 Thorny Rose award in Pasadena’s annual Doo-Dah Parade Ann Lau
Photographer and eye-witness of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre Catherine Bauknight China Specialist from the Amnesty International Representative James Zimmerman
Moderated by The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy Representative

For more information and/or to make ticket reservations, go to: www.addwordproductions.com or call 310-594-3068.

And Sun, Mar 1 @ 5:30 - 7:30PM
CLOSING NIGHT RECEPTION serving drinks and light appetizers Immediately following the matinee show discussion panel

SPECIAL EXHIBITION:TIANANMEN STORY: A Photo Essay Exhibition by Visual Artists Guild, with additional special photographs by Catherine Bauknight

Tour our ongoing exhibition Common Ground: Heart of a Community with our experienced and knowledgeable docents.

Greg Robinson and Elena Tajima Creef will present excerpts from their new anthology MINE OKUBO: FOLLOWING HER OWN ROAD. They will discuss Miné Okubo's life and work, including the creation and influence of her pioneering camp memoir CITIZEN 13660.

FREE ALL DAY!

Come enjoy picture taking workshop and craft activities for the whole family. Keeping checking back for program schedule!

Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together.

All day craft activities:

Look carefully and see what you discover in the Museum’s galleries by going on a photo scavenger hunt

Create a fantastic frame to display your photo in!

Excellent exposures! Use sun-sensitive paper to create nature prints.

Decorate a photo album to keep your photographs, drawings, memories, or nature print in!

Ruthie’s Origami Corner: Make an origami camera!

Special activity: 11:00 – 4:00 PM – Discover Nikkei's Community Collage -- share a picture, story, or item and find your own connection within our community.

11:00 PM – Doors open

1:00 to 4 PM – Smile for the camera and have a fun photo taken then with LA Photo Party – a fun photo booth without the photo booth!

4:00 PM – Doors close

ABOUT OUR FRIENDS:

LA Photo Party
8 months ago, at a party at my house, my friends were begging me to take their photos in my studio. I didn't want to deal with taking pictures of them because I was entertaining so I set my camera up to take a picture every 5 seconds.

It turned out that without me around, my friends were more inclined to be silly, jumping in front of the camera and making funny faces. They gathered around my computer monitor to review their photos as other friends took over the studio.

The next morning I realized what I had stumbled upon and began to figure out how to make the idea portable -- LA Photo Party was born.

For more information or to book your own LA Photo Party event, go to: laphotoparty.com/.

2009 Target Free Family Saturday schedule

April 11 – What's Cooking?

May 9 – Aloha!

June 13 – Try this on for Size!

July 11 – Books Galore!

Other Family Events at the National Museum

March 28: SPRING ROLLS into JANM (a family cooking workshop)

May 2: Southwest Chamber Music: Music Unwrapped Free Family Concerts

June 6: Kidding Around in the Kitchen Family Cooking Adventure: Beat the June Gloom

August 8: Kidding Around in the Kitchen Family Cooking Adventure: Summer Boredom Busters

August 15: Summer Festival on the Courtyard

August 29: Common Ground Tour for Families

August 29: Taiko for Families

FREE!

East West Players presents a reading of My Man Kono which explores the extraordinary life of Toraichi Kono from a Japanese immigrant to movie star Charlie Chaplin’s assistant to his arrest in 1941 as a Japanese spy.

Check out the Kogi Korean Taco Truck will be in front of the National Museum this Thursday. If you've never had Korean style tacos, this is an opportunity you shouldn't miss!

For more information, go to: kogibbq.com/.

Hear from the author Cathy Irwin of the new book Twice Orphaned: Voices from the Children's Village of Manzanar , and from former orphans of the Manzanar's Children's Village, the sole orphanage in all of the ten relocation centers during World War II.

The panel will consist of:
Cathy Irwin (moderator): Dr. Irwin is assistant professor of English in the Modern Languages Department of the University of La Verne and the author of Twice Orphaned: Voices from the Children’s Village of Manzanar.

Tamo Isozaki (panelist): Born in 1926, Mr. Isozaki , lived from the age of nine in northern California orphanages with his siblings until coming to live at the Children’s Village in the Manzanar War Relocation Center during World War II. He has served as an advisor for the Children’s Village Oral History Project at California State University, Fullerton, and his interview appears in Twice Orphaned.

Annie Shiraishi Sakamoto (panelist): Sent to live in a Los Angeles orphanage as a baby, Ms. Sakamoto entered the Children’s Village at Manzanar at age three and left at age six to live in a foster home. Her interview is included in Twice Orphaned.

Celeste Loi Teodor (panelist): After being raised in a Los Angeles-based orphanage, Ms. Teodor came to live in the Children’s Village at Manzanar when she had just turned six years of age. At war’s end she lived in a series of foster homes until reaching the age of eighteen. An interview with her is contained in Twice Orphaned.

Wilbur Sato (panelist): Born in 1929, Mr. Sato was evicted along with all other families on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles area and was later incarcerated in the Manzanar camp. His barracks home was located in Block 29, close to the Children’s Village, with whose residents he frequently interacted. An advisor for the Children’s Village Oral History Project at Cal State Fullerton, he has written a poem about the Village that is featured in Twice Orphaned.

Art Hansen (commentator): An emeritus professor in history and Asian American studies at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Hansen conceived of and has served as the coordinator for the Children’s Village Oral History Project at CSUF’s Center for Oral and Public History.

Following the panel, there will be a book-signing, with Cathy Irwin, for Twice Orphaned. Copies of the book can be purchased through the Museum Store.

Picture Credit: Ansel Adams, photographer
Library of Congress, Prints Photographs Division,
Title: Mr. Matsumoto and children at children's garden, Manzanar Relocation Center, CA
#LC-DIG-pprs-00362-DLC

Free Screening of Finding Dawn

An estimated 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past 30 years. Acclaimed Metis filmmaker Christine Welsh embarks on an epic journey to shed light on these murders and disappearances that remain unresolved to this day. She begins at Vancouver's skid row where more than 60 poor women disappeared and travels to the 'Highway of Tears' in northern British Columbia where more than two dozen women (all but one Native) have vanished. Special guest Tiger Moon will open the screening with poetry!

Bringing the Circle Together: A Native American Film Series

Bringing the Circle Together: A Native American Film Series is a FREE monthly film series located in downtown Los Angeles at the National Center for Preservation of Democracy. The film series was established to provide quality documentaries by and about Indigenous people of the Americas, and bring together a central gathering place where discussion and awareness of issues can be shared with the Native community and its supporters.

The film series is held at the National Center for Preservation of Democracy located at 111 North Central Avenue, between 1st Street and Central Avenue, in downtown Los Angeles. The NCPD can be reached via train, bus, or parking in the area (pdf for directions). Doors open at 6:30pm.

The film series is hosted by Lorin Morgan-Richards and Tahesha Knapp-Christensen and is sponsored by the following organizations:

The Japanese American National Museum
The National Center for Preservation of Democracy
Hecho de Mano
Nahui Ohlin
InterTribal Entertainment

For more information about the film series please visit www.myspace.com/nafilmseries
or by email at nafilmseries@aol.com

Relive history and learn about present-day Little Tokyo with National Museum docents. $8 Members; $13 non-members, includes Museum admission. Comfortable walking shoes and clothes recommended. Weather permitting.

Celebrate the coming of spring with this hands-on family cooking class of assorted Asian foods including sweet and savory spring and egg rolls and fun noodle soups. $25 members (for one child & one adult); $35 non-members, includes Museum admission and supplies. Reservations for Spring Rolls into JANM can be made by calling 213.625.0414 at ext.2222.

This cooking workshop is brought to you in collaboration with Kidding Around the Kitchen. To find out more about Kidding Around the Kitchen, go to http://www.kiddingaroundthekitchen.com/

The next Kidding Around The Kitchen workshops will take place on:
June 6:Kidding Around in the Kitchen Family Cooking Adventure: Beat the June Gloom

August 29: Kidding Around in the Kitchen Family Cooking Adventure: Summer Boredom Busters

Other Family Events at the National Museum

April 11 – Target Family Free Saturday: What's Cooking?

May 2: Southwest Chamber Music: Music Unwrapped Free Family Concerts

May 9 – Target Family Free Saturday: Aloha!

June 13 – Target Family Free Saturday: Try this on for Size!

July 11 – Target Family Free Saturday: Books Galore!

August 15: Summer Festival on the Courtyard

August 29: Common Ground Tour for Families

August 29: Taiko for Families

Panel discussion & cultural performances
Light reception to follow
Free with Museum admission

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Since the Japanese began migrating to this country, Kenjinkai (Japanese Prefectural Associations) have played important roles for new immigrants in assimilating into the larger society. They have also introduced Japanese culture and traditions to their broader American communities.

Join members from four local Kenjinkai groups (Hiroken, Kagoshima Heritage Club, Mie Kenjinkai, Yamaguchi Kenjinkai) for a presentation and discussion moderated by Professor Lane R. Hirabayashi exploring what the Kenjinkai mean to younger generations and what needs to change in order for these associations to continue to exist in the future.

Program to also include cultural performances by past Kenjinkai Kyogikai scholarship winners. Deputy Consul General Yoshimasa Tezuka has been invited as a special guest.

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LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE, SO RSVP required to 213.625.0414 ext. 2227 or rsvp@janm.org (Subject: Kenjinkai, March 28).**Please indicate the names of all guests attending.**

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PROGRAM (2-4pm)
1. Welcome/introduction – Japanese American National Museum

2. Greeting from Deputy Consul General, Yoshimasa Tezuka

3. General Kenjinkai overview video

4. Panel discussion about the future of Kenjinkai
* Panelists
: 1) Margaret Miyauchi (Kagoshima Heritage Club)
2) Arlene Nakamura (Yamaguchi Kenjinkai)
3) Dean Hara (Mie Kenjinkai)
4) Ken Mukai (Hiroken)

* Moderator:
Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, (George & Sakaye Aratani Endowed Chair of Japanese American Internment, Redress, and Community, Asian American Studies Department, University of California, Los Angeles)

5. Q & A

6. Cultural performances by former Kenjinkai Kyogikai scholorship recipients
1) Koto by Stephanie Miyauchi Chung
2) Martial arts demonstration by Ashley Arashiro
3) Traditional Japanese dance by Trisha Asao

7. Closing remarks – Nanka Kenjinkai Kyogikai

***Light Reception*** (4 - 5 pm)
Featuring a performance by Kokoro taiko.

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This program is organized by the Japanese Prefectural Association of Southern California and the Japanese American National Museum in collaboration with Hiroken - Hiroshima Kenjinkai, Kagoshima Heritage Club - Kagoshima Kenjinkai, Mie Kenjinkai, and Yamaguchi Kenjinkai.

Reception is sponsored by Lane R. Hirabayashi, George & Sakaye Aratani Endowed Chair of Japanese American Internment, Redress, and Community, Asian American Studies Department, University of California, Los Angeles.

This program is part of a series presented by Discover Nikkei, a project of the National Museum. Discover Nikkei is made possible through the generous support of The Nippon Foundation.