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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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  • Queer Nikkei Stories: Intergenerational Conversations

    Jun 18, 2020

    FREE What was it like to be gay and Japanese American decades ago? What is it like now? Okaeri, JANM, and Visual Communications invite you to listen to and participate in conversations with several generations of LGBTQ+ Japanese Americans as they talk about their experiences at the intersections of these identities. Actor and activist George Takei will be in conversation with USC student Justin Kawaguchi...

  • Film Screening and Q&A with Steve Aoki—"I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead"

    Sep 27, 2016

    FREE Join us for a special screening of I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, a new documentary on the life of influential DJ, music producer, and record label founder Steve Aoki. A heart-pumping and at times heartbreaking film, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead was shot over the course of three years, during the making of Aoki’s 2014 Neon Future double album. As it follows Aoki’s journey to play the biggest show of his career, the...

  • Above the Fold

    May 29, 2016 - Aug 21, 2016

    Origami—the Japanese tradition of folding paper into recognizable objects—dates back at least 1,000 years, with possible roots in Shinto purification rituals and gift exchanges among the nobility. By the 18th century, the practice had come into popular use, and in the mid-20th century, it was further modernized and popularized by Akira Yoshizawa, who is considered the first true “origami artist.” Yoshizawa created en...

  • Members Only Exhibition Tour: "Making Waves"

    Mar 05, 2016

    Join independent historian and curator David F. Martin for an exclusive gallery tour entitled "Surviving Art History: Artistic Reputation and the Seattle Camera Club." Martin will discuss the idea of artistic reputation as it applies to the Seattle Camera Club in the early part of the 20th century. Many of the photographers involved in the club had significant international success during their lifetimes but t...

  • Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstration

    Dec 05, 2015 - Dec 06, 2015

    Saturday, December 5 • 2 p.m. Sunday, December 6 • 2 p.m. FREE The Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu or sado) is a highly choreographed ritual of preparing and serving green tea (matcha) with traditional sweets to balance the bitter taste of the tea. In the early Meiji era, Kyoto Prefecture held the first tea exposition in Japan. The governor of Kyoto asked the 11th Urasenke Grand Tea Master, Gengensa...

  • "Jidai" Japanese Samurai Sword Lecture

    Aug 15, 2015

    Curators Michael Yamasaki and Darin S. Furukawa present an introductory lecture on Jidai: Timeless Works of Samurai Art. Learn about the unique forging process and special properties of the Japanese samurai sword and see how the distinctive armor of the warrior class functioned not only as protection, but as a reflection of the wearer’s personality. Presented as part of Natsumatsuri Family Festival. Reser...

  • "Wa-Shoku: Beyond Sushi"

    Mar 22, 2015

    Japanese cuisine is familiar to diners all over the world today. Wa-Shoku: Beyond Sushi is the story of the men who dedicated their lives to spreading wa-shoku (Japan’s traditional foods) throughout the world. Featuring Noritoshi Kanai, Chairman of Mutual Trading Co., Inc.; Nobu Matsuhisa, chef/owner of Nobu restaurants; Katsuya Uechi, chef/owner of Katsu-ya group; Yoshihiro Murata, chef/owner of Kyoto Kikunoi; Shige...

  • "Wa-Shoku: Beyond Sushi"

    Mar 22, 2015

    Japanese cuisine is familiar to diners all over the world today. Wa-Shoku: Beyond Sushi is the story of the men who dedicated their lives to spreading wa-shoku (Japan’s traditional foods) throughout the world. Featuring Noritoshi Kanai, Chairman of Mutual Trading Co., Inc.; Nobu Matsuhisa, chef/owner of Nobu restaurants; Katsuya Uechi, chef/owner of Katsu-ya group; Yoshihiro Murata, chef/owner of Kyoto Kikunoi; Shige...

  • Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Arts in the World War II Internment Camps

    Apr 05, 2014

    Premiere Promotional Screening For over twenty years, executive producer Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, a teacher and performer of the 13-stringed Japanese zither known as the koto, has researched the history of Japanese traditional performing arts as practiced in the camps. She tracked down, located, and interviewed both teachers and students from most of the ten main prison camps. Her fascination with the subject bega...

  • Wakaji Matsumoto

    The Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima,1917–1944 online exhibition highlights the rare photographs of an Issei farmer turned photographer who captured the Japanese American community in Los Angeles and urban life in Hiroshima prior to the 1945 atomic bombing of the city. The Watase Media Arts Center produced these short videos narrated by exhibition curator Dennis Reed about Wakaji Ma...