JANM on the Go logo
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. 

Learn More

Search Results For

  • Writing Little Tokyo in Crime and Rhyme

    Sep 19, 2015

    The Japanese American experience, both past and present, is rarely tackled in mainstream literature. Two award-winning authors, mystery writer Naomi Hirahara (A Grave on Grand Avenue) and poet Amy Uyematsu (The Yellow Door), have incorporated both their ethnic heritage and a strong sense of place into their works. Once members of the same writing group, Pacific Asian American Women Writers-West (PAAWW-W), thes...

  • Collections Highlight

    Feb 22, 2014

    Contributing Level Members and above ($150 plus) are invited to join our new Curator of History Lily Anne Welty, Ph.D. for a talk regarding the Calvin and George Saito Collection. Artifacts and correspondences between the brothers, who were members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and their father will bring their story to life. RSVP to memberevents@janm.org or 213.830.5657.

  • When the Mango Hits the Fan: A Tag Team Poetry Read-off

    Jan 22, 2011

    Celebrating Indivisible (U. Arkansas Press 2010), the first anthology of South Asian American poets, we'll be having a unique "read-off" featuring a team of contributors from the book and a team of Japanese American poets. Join us for this lively and hilarious tag team contest, as poets from the respective teams attempt to barter metaphors, and switch off line breaks. Just how much rice and mango imagery can you sust...

  • Asian Pacific American Book Festival

    May 12, 2007

    The National Museum is proud to be the host venue for the inaugural Asian Pacific American Book Festival. The day celebrates the importance of sharing the vitality, challenges, and success of Asian Americans through the written word. Organized and presented by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, this premiere event will feature literary luminaries and authors such as Newbery Award winner Cynthia Kadohata, David ...

  • 2004 "Oshogatsu" in Little Tokyo

    Jan 01, 2004

    To celebrate the New Year, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California will host a day of fun family activities including a lion dance, sake barrel breaking, and a samurai action show following the opening ceremony at 11:00 AM. Traditional New Year's food booths and select restaurants will be open. The first 300 children to arrive will receive a gift. For more information visit www.nylt.org. Program is su...

  • "Outspeaks a Rhapsody" by Albert Saijo

    Nov 06, 1997

    Thursday Evenings at the Museum Albert Saijo of the Beat Generation joins us from Hawai‘i for an evening of selected readings from his works. Saijo, author of Trip Trap with Jack Kerouac and Lew Welch, offers us Outspeaks a Rhapsody and slips anonymously "thru crowd unnoticed old fart in zoris gravy on shirt front—say whatever you want it doesn’t matter to me—love to you all with mucho thanx for your lov...

  • Doubles: Japan and America's Intercultural Children

    Oct 05, 1997

    Community Issues Series Video screening & panel discussion Growing up in today’s society can be challenging, especially if one of your parents is from Japan and the other from America. How do these two cultures blend together? What is your identity? Where do you fit in culturally? These are some of the questions raised in Regge Life’s video, Doubles. Join us for the screening of this video followed by a thought-p...

  • Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Japanese American Artist

    Jul 13, 1997

    Lecture Featuring: Tom Wolf, Ph.D. Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889–1953) began life in America like many other Issei (first generation of immigrant Japanese Americans). Following his arrival in 1906, he took on odd jobs in a Spokane railroad yard, a Seattle office building, and as an Imperial Valley farm worker. By the 1930s, he was a well-known, well-respected New York artist. How did this Issei become one of the most ...

  • Cold Tofu Improv: Occult Tofu

    Mar 20, 1997

    Thursday Evening at the Museum Performance Cold Tofu provides a monthly evening of laughs and entertainment at the Museum. This talented, energetic, multicultural improvisational group has an amazing assortment of entertainment techniques that will keep you laughing all night. This evening, Cold Tofu explores the dark side of tofu by examining myths, rituals and folklore.

  • Benji Okubo Collection

    (2003.159, 2005.3) The online collection of artist Benji Okubo (1904-1975) features sixteen paintings dating from Okubo’s prolific period of the late 1920s to the mid-1940s, including several works created in Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming. While Okubo’s pre-war pieces demonstrate a unique blend of color juxtaposition and surrealism, his works completed in camp are notable for their commentary on militari...