JANM’s Discover Nikkei Project Seeks Stories About Family for Nikkei Chronicles 14

Editors please note: JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus and at other locations at janm.org/OnTheGo. 

LOS ANGELES, CA –   Discover Nikkei, a web-based project of the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) that promotes connections and understanding among the global Japanese diaspora, announces the 14th edition of its Nikkei Chronicles special series, an annual, themed open call for writings. 

For Discover Nikkei’s twentieth anniversary, this year’s theme, Nikkei Family 2: Remembering Roots, Leaving Legacies, calls for stories, essays, and vignettes that celebrate and honor Nikkei family stories in all their forms. Submissions are accepted from May 1 – September 30, 2025 at 6 p.m. PDT. Those that meet the guidelines and criteria will be published in the Discover Nikkei Journal on a rolling basis. 

All submissions must be sent by email and formatted using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Submissions must include a short author biography, a headshot, and at least one image to accompany the piece. Multiple submissions and submissions written by multiple authors are welcome. 

Submissions are also eligible for selection as the Nima-kai community favorite. Nima are members of the Discover Nikkei online community called Nima-kai. “Nima” stems from the combination of Nikkei and “nakama” which is Japanese for “colleagues,” “fellows,” or “circle.” Writers are encouraged to submit their work early so that readers can vote for their favorites by logging in and giving it a “star.” Four additional stories in English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese will be selected by the editorial committee comprised of Susan Ito, a Sansei writer and memoirist; Ryusuke Kawai, a journalist and nonfiction writer; Harumi López Higa, a Peruvian film director and visual artist with Okinawan roots; and Kiyoshi Harada, a jurist, university professor, and author. More information, including guidelines and writing prompts, will be available on DiscoverNikkei.org. 

The Community Sponsors of Nikkei Family 2: Remembering Roots, Leaving Legacies are Associação Cultural e Beneficente Nipo Brasileira de Curitiba (Japanese-Brazilian Cultural and Charitable Association of Curitiba - Curitiba, Brazil), Hawaii United Okinawan Association, Liceo Mexicano Japonés, A.C. (Japanese Mexican School - Mexico City), and the National Association of Japanese Canadians.

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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 center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over one hundred exhibitions onsite while traveling forty 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’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus, throughout Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Southern California, and beyond from early January 2025 through late 2026. For more information, visit janm.org/OnTheGo or follow us on social media @jamuseum.

About Discover Nikkei

DiscoverNikkei.org is a major online resource that brings together the voices and experiences of Nikkei (Japanese emigrants and their descendants), who have created communities throughout the world. The multilingual website—available in English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese—documents Nikkei history and culture and provides learning and networking tools for Nikkei around the world. At the same time, it seeks to explore the diverse and ever-changing meaning of the term Nikkei. The site’s rich multimedia content includes excerpts from life history interviews, first-person stories and essays, journalistic profiles, research papers, opinion pieces, short fiction, and listings for events worldwide. Since 2005, Discover Nikkei has published articles by over 1,400 writers from twenty-five countries worldwide. Diverse virtual offerings, including multilingual programs exploring the global Nikkei diaspora, have drawn over 500 attendees from twenty-two countries, and engagement continues to grow. Discover Nikkei is completing work on a major website redesign, along with new features and expanded functionality. Future plans for site development, new content initiatives, public programs, and more are being developed. The establishment, redesign, and maintenance of Discover Nikkei is made possible by the Nippon Foundation. For more information, visit discovernikkei.org or follow us on social media @discovernikkei and @descubranikkei.