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Closed for Renovations

JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation and will reopen in late 2026. While the museum and store are closed, join us for programs and events on our Little Tokyo campus, throughout Southern California, and beyond. 

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  • JANM Book Club: My Lost Freedom with George Takei

    Apr 21, 2024

    Join author, George Takei, and illustrator, Michelle Lee, for a reading, conversation, and signing of their new children’s book, My Lost Freedom, a moving and true story about growing up in Japanese American concentration camps during World War II. About the BookIn My Lost Freedom, George Takei looks back at his own memories of the Santa Anita racetrack, Rohwer concentration camp, and Tule Lake Segregation Center to ...

  • George Takei to Discuss His New Book at JANM April 21

    Apr 11, 2024

    LOS ANGELES, CA – Actor and activist George Takei will discuss and sign his new children’s book My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) on April 21, 2024 from 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m. The iconic Star Trek actor, a dedicated charter member, trustee and chair emeritus of the JANM Board of Trustees, will be joined by the book’s illustrator Michelle Lee, for a r...

  • Author Discussion—"Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura" by James Matsumoto Omura; edited by Arthur A. Hansen

    Aug 25, 2018

    If you missed the program, you can watch it online on JANM’s YouTube channel. The late journalist James "Jimmie" Omura was among the fiercest opponents of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. In his sharply written columns, Omura called out leaders in the Nikkei community for what he saw as their complicity with the US government’s unjust and unconstitutional policie...

  • Big Trouble in Little Tokyo presents "The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West" (1916-17)

    May 13, 2015

    In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, JANM presents a rare screening of The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West (1916–17), a silent black-and-white film directed by Marion Wong. The Curse of Quon Gwon is the earliest known film directed by an Asian American, and one of the earliest directed by a woman. Reflecting the filmmaker’s desire to present authentic Chinese culture t...

  • "Because they might be a threat..." Memories of the Children's Village at Manzanar

    Jan 14, 2007

    On June 23, 1942, forty orphans arrived at Manzanar. By the time the camp closed, more than sixty joined their ranks. As assistant superintendent, Lillian Matsumoto oversaw the operation of the facility and care of the orphans. Now in her nineties, Matsumoto shares her memories in a very special program that includes her daughter, Karyl Matsumoto, and oral historian, Greg Marutani. Reservations recommended. This p...

  • "Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaborations"

    May 15, 2005

    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 State...

  • Evening of Poetry

    Apr 28, 2005

    Poetry Month continues with readings by poets Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Juliet Kono.

  • "An Introduction to The History and Practice of Taiko"

    Feb 15, 2005

    In advance of the exhibition Big Drum: Taiko in the United States (opening July 2005), musician, Yuta Kato will lead an eight-week course to give students a historical and practical approach to learning taiko. Early reservations are recommended due to limited space. Course fees are $100 for National Museum Members and $125 for non-members. Participants must be at least 16 years old.

  • U.S. Government Appropriates Federal Funds To Establish National Center For The Preservation Of Democracy At Japanese American National Museum

    Oct 17, 2000

    The Japanese American National Museum and the Chairman of its Board of Governors, The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, United States Senator from Hawai‘i, announced today the appropriation of $20 million in federal funds to establish the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy which will be affiliated with the National Museum in Los Angeles. The new National Center will be headquartered in the National Museum’...

  • Slide Presentation and Book Party—"Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment"

    Jun 24, 2000

    Featuring: Kimi Kodani Hill Join Kimi Kodani Hill as she discusses the art and lives of her grandparents, Chiura, an artist and professor at UC Berkeley, and Haruko Obata, who created art during their incarceration in Tanforan and Topaz, Utah. The Obatas are also the parents of Gyo Obata, architect of the National Museum’s Pavilion.