The Japanese American National Museum Welcomes Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) welcomes Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a lively roster of events. More information and tickets for the events are available at janm.org/events. More information and tickets for the exhibition, Don’t Fence Me In: Coming of Age in America’s Concentration Camps, are available at janm.org/dont-fence-me-in.

Don’t Fence Me In: Coming of Age in America’s Concentration Camps

• Through Sunday, October 1, 2023

Discover how Japanese American youth asserted their place as young Americans confronting unjust imprisonment in Don’t Fence Me In: Coming of Age in America’s Concentration Camps through photographs, personal stories, and artifacts from camping trips, social dances, sports leagues, and more.

Asian Pacific Heritage Month Kickoff

• Thursday, May 4, 2023 at JANM
• 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. PDT 

Join JANM and Visual Communications to kick off Asian Pacific Heritage Month in Little Tokyo! Celebrate our community’s abundance and joy through music, food, film, and art. Admission to all of JANM’s exhibitions will be free throughout the evening. This event is produced in collaboration with the 39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival which will run from May 4 to May 23, 2023. RSVPs are strongly encouraged.

2023 Benefit and Online Auction

• Saturday, May 13, 2023 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown
• 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. PDT

This annual fundraiser will honor the Museum’s rich history, engage future generations, and celebrate the stories of the Museum’s supporters from across the nation and across generations. The festivities include dinner at the elegant InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, an online auction, and a program that pays tribute to the Museum’s leaders who see and believe in the importance of JANM and its enduring role in our democratic society. Individual tickets start at $600.

Exploring the Yumiverse with Yumi Sakugawa

• Thursday, May 18, 2023 at JANM
• 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. PDT

Artist Yumi Sakugawa will lead an evening of mindfulness centered around their new book, The Yumiverse Mindfulness Coloring Book, designed to leave participants feeling more relaxed, less anxious, and more creatively inspired. This interactive event will begin and end with guided meditation and provide space for creative exploration through coloring. Art supplies and blank paper will be provided but participants are welcome to bring their own supplies and purchase the coloring book for their own use.

The Oath of the Sword Film Screening

• Sunday, May 28, 2023 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
• 2 p.m. PDT

JANM will present the premiere screening of the recently restored silent film, The Oath of the Sword at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles. Once thought to be lost, this 1914 film by the Japanese American Film Company was recently rediscovered by scholar Denise Khor at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. When Masao leaves Japan to study at UC Berkeley, he also leaves his lover, Hisa, who is caring for her ailing father. As Masao becomes an athletic star at Berkeley, Hisa languishes in Japan. When they reunite four years later, they discover that their lives are irrevocably and tragically changed. Remarkable location photography lends an air of realism to this once-lost treasure, shown with live musical accompaniment. The restoration was supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. 

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories and strives to provide a voice for Japanese Americans as well as a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite while traveling 17 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and on Thursday from 12 p.m.–8 p.m. JANM is free every third Thursday of the month. On all other Thursdays, JANM is free from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.