Join U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Exchange Fellows and award-winning authors Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and David Mura as they share their experiences in Japan and how it impacted their work. Ms. Houston, who co-authored the book and screenplay Farewell to Manzanar, will read from her forthcoming book, Fire Horse Woman and Mr. Mura will read from Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei (1991).

This new publication contains first-person accounts of eleven former inmates who recall their memories of youth in America's concentration camps. The collection of writings is the result of autobiographical writing workshops in which participants traced their personal journey through war, giving voice to history that has been silenced. The anthology, edited by Brian Komei Dempster, was produced by the Japanese Cultural Community Center of Northern California and published by Kearney Street Workshop. Major funding was provided by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

The emotion surrounding the issue of the Japanese American draft resistance during World War II may be better understood and appreciated by joining us in confronting a controversy that time has not put to rest. A panel moderated by Professor Arthur Hansen that includes Frank Abe, producer of the film Conscience and the Constitution; Professor Eric Muller of the University of North Carolina School of Law, author of Free To Die For Their Country: The Japanese American Draft Resisters of World War II; and Frank Emi, Heart Mountain concentration camp internee and draft resisters supporter will offer their perspectives and research findings on this issue. A film showing of Conscience and the Constitution will precede the panel discussion, and at the conclusion of the program Professor Muller will sign copies of his newly published book.

Meet nisei entrepreneur George Aratani and author Naomi Hirahara as they share the inside story behind the making of An American Son, the inaugural publication of the Museum’s American Profiles Series. This biography focuses on George Aratani’s journey, which takes him from the fields of Guadalupe and Santa Maria, to the scorching deserts of Gila River, into the Military Intelligence Service, and out into the fast-paced world of international trade in New York and Japan. Aratani will share his life experiences as the founder of Mikasa and Kenwood and Naomi Hirahara will share her thoughts on the process of writing the biography.

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which sparked the unconstitutional incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry in U.S. concentration camps. What led FDR to sign this executive order which forever changed the lives of the inmates and their community? Greg Robinson, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Quebec at Montreal, has detailed in his book Roosevelt’s attitudes that brought about the greatest U.S. civil rights violation of the 20th Century. Prof. Robinson will read from and sign copies of his new book.

Kristine Kim, lead curator of the exhibition Henry Sugimoto: Painting an American Experience, will present the life and art of this incredible artist in a slide lecture at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.

Through a Diamond chronicles the 100-year history of baseball in America and the role
it played in fostering relationships between the U.S. and Japan. Author Kerry Yo Nakagawa also describes how the game of baseball remained in the lives of Japanese Americans who, even after being incarcerated in American concentration camps during World War II, were able to organize themselves into leagues and travel from state to state to compete on the baseball diamond.

Nakagawa is the project director for the non-profit Nisei Baseball Research Project (NBRP), curator of the Diamonds in the Rough: Japanese Americans in Baseball exhibition which was displayed at the National Museum in the summer of 2000, a consultant to the prestigious Baseball Hall of Fame tour entitled Baseball in America, and an independent producer/filmmaker, actor, researcher, and writer.

Join us for an evening of conversation and readings with some of Los Angeles’ most provocative writers. They give voice to living in Los Angeles ten years after the riots and six months after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. The program will also include a special reading of Angel Island (considered the “Ellis Island of the West�) immigration poetry. An evening that fuses past, present, and the future through the power and inspiration of the word.

The Municipal Art Gallery and the National Museum invite you to join us for special readings by authors who represent the strength and breadth of contemporary writing in Los Angeles. Featuring: Jenoyne Adams, John D’Amico, Michale Datcher, Russell Leong, Sandra Munoz, Majid Naficy and D.J. Waldie.

Born Free and Equal, a collection of photographs taken by renowned photographer
Ansel Adams at the Manzanar concentration camp, was recently re-released in a new and complete edition in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066. Join us as Archie Miyatake, son of renowned photographer Toyo Miyatake, Sue Kunitomi Embrey, board member of the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco, William H. Michael, Eastern California Museum Director and editor Wynne Benti discuss and explore the history behind Adams’ forgotten work. A Q&A session and book signing will follow the presentation.

International Nikkei Research Project Book Signing
The premiere launching of two pioneering publications, New Worlds, New Lives: Globalization and People of Japanese Descent in the Americas and from Latin America in Japan and Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas: An Illustrated History of the Nikkei, based on the International Nikkei Research Project, a three-year collaborative project coordinated by the National Museum. The international research team–over 90 leading scholars and 14 institutions from 10 countries–explores the fascinating experiences of Nikkei in the Americas. The editors and contributors will be on-hand to talk about their work.

Join us as we celebrate the publication of 'In America’s Shadow'', a groundbreaking and truly unique book for children by authors Kimberly Komatsu and Kaleigh Komatsu. In this deeply moving story set amidst the turbulence of World War II, a young girl and her grandfather leave everything behind and board a train bound for a place called Manzanar. They soon discover that their journey is more than a journey of place, it is a journey of the heart. An unforgettable and timeless story of the special bond shared between grandparent and grandchild. Reception to follow.

Lecture and Book Signing

Lawrence DiStasi?, editor of the recently published Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II (Heyday Books: 2001), will discuss the little-known experience of the 600,000 Italian enemy aliens nationwide who were variously restricted, interned, and evacuated during the wartime. His remarks will give special emphasis to the experience of Italian Americans in California, where government measures against Italian enemy aliens were most severe. A discussion to follow will offer a forum to examine both similarities and differences in the experiences of the Italian and Japanese communities respectively, and will address comparisons with similar measures being taken today in response to the events of September 11, 2001.

Join us to celebrate the launching of two pioneering publications, New Worlds, New Lives: Globalization and People of Japanese Descent in the Americas and from Latin America in Japan and Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas: An Illustrated History of the Nikkei, based on the International Nikkei Research Project, a three-year collaborative project coordinated by the National Museum.

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), Issei Memorial Building, 1840 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California 94115.

Three expert panelists provide insight into the grassroots efforts of ordinary citizens to better relations between the U.S. and Japan in 1927. They also reveal efforts to preserve the surviving dolls and continuing relations started 75 years ago. The panel features Michiko Takaoka, director of the Japanese Cultural Center, Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, Spokane, Washington; Rosie Skiles, Friendship Doll Researcher, Japanese American Doll Enthusiasts; and Dr. Sidney Gulick III, grandson of the initiator of the 1927 exchange and co-founder of Friendship Ambassador, Inc. Join us in learning more about this little-known legacy of past and current Friendship Doll exchanges on both sides of the Pacific.

1:30-2:30 pm English Language Panel Discussion
2:30-3:00 pm Book Signing
3:00-4:00 pm Japanese Language Presentation

Film Screening, Reading, and Conversation with the Authors

Featuring author Louise Steinman and journalist Wendy Hanamura, who will both talk about their motivations, struggles and discoveries as they went through the process of reconstructing their fathers’ war experiences. Weaving together her father’s letters from wartime—found after his death—with the story of her own journey, Steinman tells a compelling story in her new book The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father’s War. Steinman, a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times, curates literary and performing arts programs for the Los Angeles Public Library. Wendy Hanamura documents her father, Sergeant Howard Hanamura, and his march through war and racial turmoil while fighting in the Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team in her Emmy award-winning HONOR BOUND – A Personal Journey. As an experienced journalist, Hanamura has produced documentaries, news features, and has covered international and local news for the last 17 years.

There will be a screening of special film clips from HONOR BOUND – A Personal Journey, and Steinman will read and sign copies of her new book, The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father's War.

Have you ever had the desire to write poetry, fiction or memoirs, but don’t know where to begin? Then come to the National Museum’s writing workshop, where instructor Cecilia Manguerra Brainard will teach participants how to enhance their creativity by learning how to tap into the right-brain. Specific exercises will be given and participants will have the chance to do some writing and sharing.

Brainard has been teaching creative writing since 1989, and now teaches classes at the Writers Program, UCLA Extension, and Writing for Animation at USC. She is the author and editor of ten books, including the internationally acclaimed novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept. In her newly released novel, MAGDALENA, Brainard explores the loves and secrets of three generations of women in the Philippines from the time of the Spanish American War, World War II, and Vietnam War.

Following the workshop will be a Publication Party of MAGDALENA.

Join the National Museum’s Hawai‘i Advisory Council for a 10th Anniversary Members’ Reception in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. The reception will also feature an update on the international travel and “homecoming� of the exhibition From Bento to Mixed Plate: Americans of Japanese Ancestry in Multicultural Hawai‘i, plans for Bento reunion activities on Maui in February 2004 when the exhibition ends its run at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and a book signing of reference publications developed through the International Nikkei Research Project by Dr. Akemi Kikumura-Yano, the National Museum’s vice president of programs.

For more information on the Hawai‘i program, please contact René Tomita at 808.946.5417 or Florence Ochi at 213.830.5652.

Author William Hohri will read from his third book and his first novel, Manzanar Rites. He tells the story of different rites of passage for the inmates of the euphemized “Manzanar War Relocation Center.� Nisei adolescents discover what sexual attraction is. They stumble from wishing to be white to defining what they can reasonably achieve. An older Nisei turns informant and is later beaten up. Issei organize to contact the Spanish embassy to negotiate their right to decent food. On the eve of the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the actions merge to a confrontation with the camp’s administration that results in death and detention within detention.

Southland explores the fragile relationships and sometimes painful misunderstandings that occur across the lines of race and culture. It is also the story of an ever-changing city. Moving in and out of the past, from the shipping yards and internment camps of World War II; the barley fields of the Crenshaw district in the 1930s; the mean streets of Watts in the 1960s; and the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s, Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms.

Dr. Jacalyn D. Harden of Seattle University takes a critical look at the relationships and political partnerships of ethnic groups in one of the most diverse cities in the country. Harden will discuss her research on Japanese Americans in one Chicago community.

by Joyce Hirohata and Paul T. Hirohata, ed. Foreword by Bill Hosokawa

Nisei Voices celebrates the lives and documents the orations of Japanese American valedictorians of California public schools in the 1930s. First published by Paul T. Hirohata in his book Orations and Essays (1935), Joyce Hirohata has reprinted the anthology complete with photographs and interviews. The fifty oration manuscripts provide a rare glimpse into the thoughts of Japanese Americans prior to World War II. Students featured in the anthology will join Ms. Hirohata and share their experiences.

When bombs rained down on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese American college students were among many young men enrolled in ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) called upon to defend the islands against invasion immediately after the attack. In a matter of weeks, however, the government questioned their loyalty and disarmed them.

In No Sword to Bury, Franklin Odo places the largely untold story of these young men in the context of the community created by their immigrant families and its relationship to the larger, white-dominated society. Vivid oral histories recall the young men's service on the home front in the Varsity Victory Volunteers, a non-military group dedicated to public works, the Military Intelligence Service, and the segregated 442nd Regimental Combat Team that fought in Europe. Odo shows how their wartime experiences and their post-war successes in business and politics contributed to the simplistic view of Japanese Americans as a model minority in Hawai'i.

Torn between two cultures and two worlds, the Nisei felt like wandering nomads with no ties to their homeland. For these "war orphans," America was a blank or "clean white" sheet of paper where anything was possible, but for Mas Arai, he couldn't escape the painful memories of World War II. Arai harbors a dark and disturbing secret about what happened before his flight from Hiroshima, a secret he had planed to take to his grave. But when a mysterious stranger appears looking for a man by the name of Joji Haneda, Arai knows he can no longer bury the past. Swept up in a shadowy underworld of gambling fixes, hush money, and even murder, Arai's quest to discover the truth behind what happened more than fifty years ago will uncover a multitude of mysteries, each more deadly than the last.

Naomi Hirahara is a freelance writer and journalist and former editor at The Rafu Shimpo. The daughter of a Los Angeles gardener and atom bomb survivor, Hirahara has authored the National Museum's American Profile Series.

In Japan, no Fire Horse Woman could ever dream of marrying. It was a tragic sign, a ruinous birth date that occurred once every sixty years. Though always beautiful, Fire Horse Women were destined to remain untamed by men - and were to be avoided as wives at all cost. An orphan as well, Sayo had two strikes against her. But her loving mentor kept her secrets and made a match for her with the second son of a wealthy family - a son who was staking his own claim in America.

Though beset by doubts and unforeseen circumstances, tragedy and pain, Sayo learns to harness the power of the Fire Horse in this new land and survive all the obstacles that life sets in her path. But as the winds of World War II begin to blow across America, Sayo and her family find themselves looked upon as enemies and interned in a desert camp. There, under immense hardship, Sayo, her daughter Hanna, and her granddaughter Terri persevere.

When the economy goes sour, World War III turns into an economic war with Japan. All Japanese products, investments, and people are banned. The propaganda/advertising machine gets cranked up and old prejudices resurface against Americans of Japanese ancestry. Executive Order 9066 is reinstated and all Japanese Americans are ordered to abandon their jobs, homes, schools, and their country and report to the resurrected WWII internment camps such as Manzanar, where an ambitious camp commandant awaits with her plans for a convenient solution to the Japanese problem.

An afternoon of poetry published in an anthology by the Manzanar Committee, an organization whose goal is to educate the public about the Japanese American internment experience. Poets featured in this anthology will talk about their experience writing and their participation in Manzanar After Dark, a program that began in 1997 to teach young people about the Manzanar camp experience.

Gil Asakawa’s celebration of what makes JAs so special is an entertaining blend of facts, recipes, songs, and memories that every JA will want to share with their friends and family. Being Japanese American looks at where JAs came from, their cultural and spiritual roots, how they have adapted their customs to their new home, and the importance of food and language to their identity. Also included are interviews with JAs and a look at how it’s hip to be Japanese, from manga to martial arts, plus a section on Japantown communities, tips for JAs scrapbooking, and traveling to Japan to rediscover their roots.

America’s first Asian American gubernatorial first lady paid tribute to Hawai`i’s last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani by restoring the Queen’s final home to its monarchy-era beauty. From 1974–1986, Washington Place served as the gubernatorial residence for Mrs. Ariyoshi and Governor George Ariyoshi. Washington Place is a lavishly illustrated book that conveys the everlasting allure of the Hawaiian Islands as well as other captivating stories of love and sacrifice, trust and betrayal, duty and conflict. Mrs. Ariyoshi will talk about writing this memoir and her time as first lady of Hawai`i.

Through images and stage directions, Denise Uyehara has written a compelling book that sheds light on some of her most popular performance art pieces. Uyehara will perform selected works profiled in her book and speak about the process of compiling her work for Maps of City & Body.

Sparked by an editor's comment that "creating a good column is like writing a letter to a friend," farmer and award-winning author David Mas Masumoto's column for the Fresno Bee is written in the form of letters. From the unique perspective of a farmer on a working farm, he talks about the deep concerns we all share dealing with change and trying to protect and preserve a way of life. Masumoto's farming and his community serve as a backdrop to the "letters" he writes, offering the concerns of a parent, the memories of a son, the advice of a friend. Mas Masumoto is also the author of Harvest Son, Epitaph for a Peach, and Four Seasons in Five Senses.

Naomi Hirahara follows up her acclaimed first mystery novel Summer of the Big Bachi with another Mas Arai adventure. The story follows Mas Arai's daughter, Mari, who from the time she was a child was completely gasa-gasa (never sitting still, always on the go). Mas, a gardener and Hiroshima survivor haunted by his past, never had much time for his family. Now, Mari is asking for his help and Mas finds himself in New York City and in the middle of a murder mystery. A light reception with the author will precede the program and book signing at 6:30 PM.

Ayako Ishigaki (1903-1996) had a remarkable career as a journalist, biographer, television personality, and activist. She chronicled her extraordinary life in a stirring and exquisitely written book spanning decades, countries, and cultures. Restless Wave has been reissued with an afterword by Yi-Chun Tricia Lin and Greg Robinson that sheds additional light on Ishigaki's life and work, much of which took place in Little Tokyo. Lin and Robinson will discuss this pioneering book and the woman who wrote it.

This collection of essays outlines how the National Museum operates in collaboration with other institutions, museums, researchers, audiences, and funders. Authors will speak on their case studies which explore collaboration with community-oriented partners in order to document, interpret, and present their histories and experiences and provide a new understanding of what museums can and should be in the United States. Book signing to follow.

Ms. Kadohata will read excerpts from Kira-Kira, a children's novel and winner of the 2005 John Newbery Medal.
Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem kira-kira, the Japanese word for "glittering". When the Takeshima family moves from a Japanese community in Iowa to Georgia in the 1950s, it's Lynn who explains to Katie why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. When Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something shining in the future.

As a child, Lela Lee was ridiculed and humiliated for something she could not help -- her gender and her ethnicity. She used those experiences to create the wildly popular comic strip, Angry Little Asian Girl.

Now, in addition to an ultra-hip product line, the strip has been compiled in a new book published by Harry N. Abrahms. Book signing to follow.

Caldecott medalist Allen Say debuts his colorful new work, Kamishibai Man, a tale of an old paper storyteller in Japan who returns to the city and discovers the children he used to entertain have not forgotten him. Book signing to follow.

Sansei Amy Uyematsu's third collection of poetry, Stone Bow Prayer, profiles a woman whose life engages politics, her ancestry, and spirit. This beautiful collection is constructed as a Japanese Calendar—with bows to the Zen aesthetic.

Taiji Miyagawa will accompany Uyematsu’s reading with acoustic bass. Book signing to follow.

The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II affected families in ways both unique and similar. For this program, three authors of books exploring the impact of these events on individuals, families, and communities in the Pacific Northwest discuss their work in an insightful panel presentation.

Varied in style, authors Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, David A. Neiwert, and Toshiko Shoji Ito share poignant stories born from the diverse experiences of Japanese American individuals and communities from Seattle during World War II.

Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald is an autobiographical account of Gruenewald and her family’s incarceration at Minidoka, Idaho. Gruenewald captures the emotional and psychological essence of what it was like to grow up in the midst of profound dislocation and injustice, and of struggle for survival, growing up in the midst of profound dislocation and injustice.

Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a Japanese American Community by David A. Neiwert tells a moving tale of the creation and destruction of Bellevue, Washington, a Japanese immigrant renowned for its strawberry farms. Combining compelling storytelling, interviews, and newly uncovered documents, Neiwert weaves together the community’s history and the racist schemes that prevented the immigrants from reclaiming their land after the war.

Endure by Toshiko Shoji Ito is a story of courage and triumph based loosely on Ito’s experiences. The novel follows 17-year-old, Tomi, who was forced to leave a carefree life in Seattle for Minidoka. Tomi’s indomitable spirit prevails, despite the burden of shame that her family—like so many others—shouldered because of their unjust incarceration.

Book signing to follow. Available at the Museum Store. Order toll free 1.888.769.5559 or at www.janmstore.com.

Lois-Ann Yamanaka's new work melds culture and spirituality into the story of a young girl attempting to escape the haunting legacy of her two sisters. Acclaimed author of Father of the Four Passages (2001, Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Yamanaka illustrates a brutal tale of love and loss, life and death in the Kahili Valley on the island of O'ahu.

East meets South in Dixieland Sushi, a delightfully offbeat tale about big fat weddings, the burdens of love, and the clash of cultures.

Cara Lockwood is the bestselling author of, I Do (But I Don?t)?now a Lifetime movie?and Pink Slip Party. This humorous novel is inspired by her experiences of growing up a Yonsei in Dallas where she ate sushi while listening to country music.

Book signing to follow. Dixieland Sushi is available for sale through the Museum Store. Order online through the Museum Store Online, or call 888.769.5559.

The debut of Joanne Oppenheim?s new book, which incorporates images and letters from the National Museum collection, chronicles the story of humanitarian Clara Breed whose correspondence uplifted the spirits of San Diego children sent to America?s concentration camps during World War II.

Book signing to follow. To order a copy, visit the Museum Store Online or call the Museum Store toll free at 1.888.769.5559.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, the National Museum presents acclaimed playwright Philip Kan Gotanda’s anthology of four plays exploring the choices and challenges Japanese American women face.

Set in different decades of the 20th century, the plays are all absolutely modern in the human struggles they depict. Gotanda will speak about his journey in writing and bringing to stage stories of Asian Americans. The program will include a staged reading from an act of one of the featured plays.

Book signing to follow. Available at the Museum Store. Order toll free 1.888.769.5559 or at www.janmstore.com.

Delphine Hirasuna presents a varied collection of artifacts photographed by Terry Hefferman in a tribute to the 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. Hirasuna will speak on the art of gaman, "the art of enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity"; and on how crafts were produced in camp out of found materials. Objects presented in this colorful anthology are examples of what may be found in public and private collections throughout the United States, including that of the National Museum's.

The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps is available for sale through the Museum Store Online or toll-free at 888.769.5559.

Naomi Hirahara's new novel is the third in a series featuring one of mystery fiction's most unique heroes: Mas Arai, a curmudgeonly Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor.

In Snakeskin Shamisen, Mas hates to stick his nose in other people's business, but a favor to a friend soon has him caught up in a mystery that reaches from the islands of Okinawa to the streets of Los Angeles--a world of heartbreaking memories, deception, and murder. Reception to follow.

Snakeskin Shamisen will be available for sale in May through the Museum Store Online or toll-free at 888.769.5559.

Join award-winning filmmaker and artist, Kip Fulbeck, as he discusses his new book part asian, 100% hapa. This book was created as a forum in word and image for Hapa to answer the question they're nearly always asked: "What are you?"

Fulbeck's frank, head-on portraits are paired with the sitters' own statements of identity. A work of intimacy, beauty, and powerful self-expression, part asian, 100% hapa is the book Fulbeck says he wishes he had growing up.

Book signing to follow.

part asian, 100% hapa is available for sale through the Museum Store Online or by calling 888.769.5559.

This indelible work of visual and social history confirms Dorothea Lange's stature as one of the twentieth century's greatest American photographers. Presenting 119 images originally censored by the United States Army -- the majority of which have never been published -- Impounded evokes the horror of a community uprooted in the early 1940s and the stark reality of the internment camps. Colin Westerbeck, distinguished curator of photography and Los Angeles Times West magazine contributing writer, moderates a conversation with the authors, to shed light on the experiences of thousands whose lives were unalterably shattered by racial hatred brought on by war. Book signing and dessert reception to follow. Reservations recommended.

This book is available at the Museum Store. Call 888.769.5559 to place an order.

Ideal for Educators

Combining heartfelt stories with first-rate scholarship, Lost & Found reveals the complexity of people reclaiming their own history by exploring the meaning of the World War II camps from the inmates' own memories. Ishizuka, former Senior Curator and Director of the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center at the Japanese American National Museum, deftly blends official history with community memory to work towards recovering a painful past. During this program, the author, in conversation with Thai Binh Checel, Partner, Abacus Educational Enrichment, provides new insights about the Japanese American incarceration experience.

Book signing and dessert reception to follow. All educators with proper ID can purchase Lost & Found at a 10% discount at the program. Reservations are recommended for this FREE event to 213.625.0414.

This book is available through the Museum Store Online or by calling the toll-free Store Order Line at 888.769.5559.

Private Tour for Educators
Saturday, January 27, 1:00PM
(Lost & Found program to immediately follow)

Join us for a facilitated tour of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, an educational program of the National Museum that promotes the principles of democracy, diversity, and civic involvement. To make a tour reservation, contact 213.625.0414. For more information about the National Center, visit www.ncdemocracy.org.

Pure Beauty shows how racial and gendered meanings are enacted through the pageants, and reveals their impact on Japanese American men, women, and children. Now based in Ireland, King-O'Riain concludes that the mixed-race challenge to racial understandings of Japanese American-ness does not necessarily mean an end to race as we know it and asserts that race is work -- created and re-created in a social context. Book signing to follow.

This book will be available for sale through the Museum Store Online in March 2007. You can order by phone at 888.769.5559.

Issei: The Shadow Generation brings to light the subtle cultural teachings of the first Japanese immigrants in American. With profound insight, deep understanding of language, and years of conversation with the pioneers, Matsueda shares the way of the Issei, who amidst struggle and adversity learned not only to survive, but also thrive in America. Book signing to follow.

This book is available for sale through the Museum Store Online. You can also order by phone at 888.769.5559.

It's World War II and eight-year-old Mari, along with 120,000 innocent Americans, is deprived of her rights, possessions, and freedom by the United States government. Under such staggering circumstances, how does a child cope?

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow is the only children's book about the incarceration in a bilingual English and Japanese format. Lee-Tai's gentle prose and Hoshino's stunning illustrations make this the perfect book for any age. Book signing to follow.

This program is made possible by a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

This book is available for sale through the Museum Store Online. You can also order by phone at 888.769.5559.

Over a generation, sushi in the United States has gone from the unknown to ubiquitous, but even aficionados will be surprised at the true history and complex economics behind their favorite food. The Sushi Economy jumps from Mediterranean docks to the multimillion-dollar tuna auctions of Japanese fish markets, and from the shopping streets of Shanghai to the cargo holds of intercontinental jumbo jets -- all while making a surprising case against eating local. Sushi tasting and book signing to follow. Free with Museum admission.

This book will be available from the Museum Store Online in September.

Cory Shiozaki explores the history of Manzanar inmates who turned to trout fishing to escape the hardships of incarceration. The filmmaker suggests that through fishing inmates found a much sought-after feeling of freedom, however brief, as they matched wits with the wily trout of the famed Eastern Sierra fishing grounds. Shiozaki will share stories of "escaping" at night from camp, highlight Manzanar's well-known fishermen, and share examples of fishing tackle used in camp.

Made possible, in part, by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

Author Sanae Kawaguchi in conversation with Art Hansen
Published in Japan in 2005, A Time of Innocence tells the poignant story of Japanese-American families who escaped the West Coast during the brief period of "voluntary evacuation" and made their dangerous way into the interior to avoid confinement in the government camps. This fictional account of the families' hardships, travails, and triumphs captures an emotionally charged moment in U.S. history. Book signing to follow.

by Eric L. Muller
Ever the astute researcher and engaging writer, University of North Carolina Professor of Law, Eric Muller, has written a thought provoking book that tells the story of the government bureaucracy that existed between 1943 and 1945, adjudicating which Americans of Japanese ancestry were "loyal" and which were "disloyal." Light reception to follow.