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Group Visit Offerings

To schedule a group visit, please call 213.830.5601 or use our online or printable (PDF) forms to make your reservation. Special arrangements can usually be made with advance notice. Normal visits last approximately 1 and 1/2 hours; this may include a tour and activity or 2-3 activities. Please plan on extra time to allow students to rotate activities if you have a group larger than 60. All tours and activities are included with the price of admission unless otherwise noted. Guided group visits must be scheduled at least 3 weeks in advance.

Common Ground: The Heart of Community

Recommended Age: 2nd - College
Program Length: 1 hour
Available Tuesday-Friday at 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:30 AM
Saturday 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM
60-student maximum per time slot

The Common Ground exhibition chronicles 150 years of Japanese American history, beginning with the Issei pioneers through the World War II incarceration to the present. This hour-long tour of the National Museum’s core exhibition is led by volunteer docents, many of whom share their World War II incarceration experiences. Please let the Education staff know at the time of your reservation what your students are studying, so that docents can adjust their tour to highlight specific areas.

California History-Social Sciences content standards: 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4, 4.4, 10.8, 11.7, 11.11, 12.10

Documentaries on the Japanese American Experience

Recommended Age: 6 - 12th grades
Program Length: 30 minutes
Available Available Tuesday–Friday upon request
60-student maximum per time slot

Remembering Manzanar
Through the use of rare historic footage and photographs and personal recollections
of former inmates and others, Remembering Manzanar explores the experiences of more
than 10,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in a remote desert facility
during World War II.

9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps, Then… and now?
9066 to 9/11 explores the parallels between the post-September 11 treatment of Arab
(and Muslim) Americans with treatment of Japanese Americans after the start of World
War II. Revealing striking similarities, the video serves as a primer on the Japanese
American camp experience and its relevance today.

California History-Social Sciences content standards: 10.8, 11.7, 11.11, 12.10

Origami Art

Recommended Age: 1st - 12th grades
Program Length: 1/2 hour
Available Tuesday-Saturday upon request
60-student maximum per time slot

The word origami is from the Japanese words for folding, ori, and paper, kami. While learning how to create their own works of origami art, students also learn about the origins of origami and how the art has grown into an international phenomenon. Younger students make a kori basket, representing the basket that Japanese immigrants used to carry their belongings, while older students make more complex pieces.

California Visual Arts content standards: 1.3.3, 1.5.2, 2.3.3
California History-Social Sciences content standards: 1.5, 2.1

Story Time

Recommended Age: 1st - 5th grades
Program Length: 1/2 hour
Available Tuesday-Friday upon request
60-student maximum per time slot

During Story Time, a storyteller regales students with an illustrated and interactive story. Students in 1st - 3rd grades hear Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, a traditional Japanese folktale written by Japanese American author Allen Say. Older students in grades 3 - 5 hear A Promise Kept, a special story developed by the Japanese American National Museum about two boys during World War II and a special promise made when one boy and his family are sent to a camp in Arkansas.

California History-Social Sciences content standards: 1.1, 1.5, 2.1, 3.3, 4.4

Taiko Drumming

Recommended Age: K - 8th grades
Program Length: 1/2 hour
Available Tuesday & Thursday upon request
60-student maximum per time slot

Japanese immigrants first brought taiko (“big drum”) to the United States, but today’s taiko combines traditional Japanese drumming with world influences to create a uniquely Japanese American art form. In this interactive performance, students learn about taiko’s basic techniques and some students will try their hands at playing the drums in a call-and-answer session. Students learn about the rhythms used in taiko and how drummers create their complex music from simple beats.

California Music content standards: K.1.1, K.1.2, K.2.3, K.3.3, K.4.2, 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 2.3.1, 2.3.3, 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 3.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3
California History-Social Sciences content standards: K.6, 1.5, 2.1, 3.3

Tour Reflection at the Museum's Historic Building

Recommended Age: 9th - 12th grades
Program Length: 1/2 hour
Available Tuesday-Friday following a guided tour of Common Ground.
35-student maximum per time slot

Designed as a follow-up to a tour of Common Ground: The Heart of Community, this facilitated discussion in the Museum's Historic Building (formerly the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple) encourages students to draw thier own personal connections to the Japanese American experience by reflection on how prejudicial statements from the time period of World War II, as well as statements heard in their own contemporary communities, affect our democracy today.

Special Programs

In addition to regular visit offerings, the National Museum presents special programs for school groups during temporary exhibitions. These programs are available only during the run of the exhibition and can be combined with normal visit activities. Due to time constraints, we suggest that schools do not attempt to do both the Common Ground tour and a special program on the same visit. Call (213) 830-5601 to make your reservations or for more details.

Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress

Recommended Age: 10-12th grades
Program Length: 2.5 hours
Available Available April 30, 2008, at 10:00 am and May 7, 2008, at 10:00 am
$3/student (includes museum admission), $5/chaperon
Groups attending this program are not eligible for the Free Admission Grant

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, in which the U.S. government officially apologized for the actions it took against Japanese Americans during World War II. Dr. Mitchell Maki, the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Dominguez Hills, brings this historic first to life in a special and interactive talk that will take high school students step by step through the Redress Movement. From the roots of the social movement in the camps themselves through the process of getting a bill passed in Congress to the bill’s signing by President Ronald Regan, this is a talk that shouldn’t be missed by any civics or history class!

Space is limited. Optional tours of Common Ground are available before or after the presentation.

Eyewitness to History

Recommended Age: 7-12th grades
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Available Available January 30, 2010, at 2:00 pm and March 12, 2010, at 10:00 am
200-student maximum per time slot

Designed for students who have some previous knowledge of the Japanese American World War II experience, Eyewitness to History History is a program offered at the National Museum where students interact with men and women who lived through the history they learn about in their classrooms. In this 90-minute program, students will view the 20-minute documentary Remembering Manzanar, hear first-hand accounts of what life was like for Japanese Americans during World War II, and engage in an active dialogue with the speakers. This program can be followed by an optional self-guided visit to the Museum's exhibition, Common Ground: The Heart of Community. Prior to the program, a special pre-visit activity will be sent to the group leader in order to prepare students for the program.

Open House for Educators

Recommended Age: educators
Program Length: 2 hours
Available Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm.

Drop by and join us as we celebrate the beginning of a new school year. View current exhibitions and get updated information about the Museum's school programs. We welcome returning teachers as well as educators who have never visited the Museum before to come see what we have to offer! Special opportunity: Bring a completed Group Visit Reservation form for guaranteed on-site booking. Tacos from the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck will be served! Educators will have the opportunity to come taste what all the buzz is about.

Showing Our Age

Recommended Age: 6-12th grades
Program Length: 1 hour
Available Available May 1-2, 2008, at 10:00 am and May 8-9, 2008, at 10:00 am
200-student limit maximum per time slot

About Productions’ Showing our Age combines theatrical storytelling with live music and song to explore intergenerational relationships. The piece is based on compelling stories taken from actual interviews of Los Angeles seniors. They connect students to contemporary Los Angeles, U.S., and world histories, with particular emphasis on World War II. Showing our Age is performed by a talented ensemble of actors and musicians, each of whom portray multiple characters and brings to life the struggles, survival, and transformation of a generation. Performance includes a post-play discussion.

This program is supported, in part, by the Righteous Persons Foundation, and Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

SELF-GUIDED GROUPS

Self-guided groups are welcome, although we encourage all groups to take advantage of our guided tours. If you are planning a self-guided visit to the National Museum, reservations are requested to ensure a better experience for your group and any other guests who may be in the galleries at the same time. Some temporary exhibitions may have age restrictions, additional chaperone requirements, and/or be off-limits to self-guided groups. Self-guided school groups do not qualify for the Free Admission Grant or school group discount rates.

Due to safety concerns and occupancy limits, the National Museum can only allow 60 students per self-guided group. If you have more than 60 students, additional time will be needed to rotate students through the Museum and other activities (What other things can I do or see with my students in Little Tokyo?). National Museum staff can help with logistics at the time of your reservation.

It is especially important that self-guided groups have the appropriate number of chaperons (one per 10 students). Unaccompanied school groups can become disruptive; therefore, self-guided school groups who arrive at the National Museum without the correct number of chaperons cannot be admitted.