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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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  • Author Conversation—A Rebel’s Outcry: Biography of Issei Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii

    Sep 03, 2022

    FREE In Person RSVP Virtual RSVP Celebrate the release of the award-winning biography of civil rights leader, Sei Fujii, with a special 10th anniversary screening of the short film Lil Tokyo Reporter and a discussion around the biography. The conversation will include filmmaker and publisher Jeffrey Gee Chin and Academy Award-winner Chris Tashima, and actress Keiko Agena. This program is prese...

  • On the Passing of Judge Vincent H. Okamoto

    Oct 01, 2020

    Los Angeles, CA—As the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Japanese American National Museum, it is with sadness and much respect that I note the passing of Judge Vincent H. Okamoto, a decorated Vietnam veteran, a prominent lawyer and judge, an articulate speaker and historian and a community leader. Judge Okamoto’s personal story is remarkable. The 10th child and sixth son born in an American concentration ...

  • ON THE PASSING OF FRANK HAJIME WATASE

    Sep 21, 2020

    Los Angeles, CA–In my capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Japanese American National Museum, I wanted to convey our condolences and deepest sympathies to the family of Frank Hajime Watase at his recent passing earlier this month at the age of 96. Frank was among the first Trustees for JANM before our public opening in 1992 and served as a Governor twice. Frank believed in our mission to pres...

  • The Lives of Samurai Women of Kōchi and the Kunimitsu Family Scroll

    Jul 20, 2019

    There were as many samurai women as men during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868) in Japan, but their lives are often overlooked. Professor Luke Roberts of University of California, Santa Barbara, will speak about his recent research into the lives of samurai women who hailed from Kōchi, an area in southwestern Japan. Following the lecture, Roberts will be joined by Hawaii State Senator Brian Taniguchi and his wife...

  • The Etymology of Hapa

    Apr 28, 2018

    If you missed the program, you can watch it online on JANM’s YouTube channel. In conjunction with JANM’s hapa.me – 15 years of the hapa project exhibition, scholar Richard Keao NeSmith will discuss the origins and evolution of the word hapa, the Hawaiian interpretation of the English word “half.” His talk will address varying perspectives on who is hapa, who can or should rightfully use the term, and ...

  • JANM Free Family Days: Celebrating Family

    Jun 11, 2016

    FREE ALL DAY In conjunction with the Mixed Remixed Festival, JANM presents a day of activities that explore the meaning of family. ALL DAY ACTIVITIES: Construct a mobile to show what each member of your family means to you. Create a family out of finger puppets. Make a Father’s Day card at Ruthie’s Origami Corner. Use our Instax camera to snap instant photos of you with your famil...

  • ORIGAMI EXHIBITION TO UNFOLD AT JANM

    Apr 08, 2016

    The Japanese American National Museum will present Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami, a traveling exhibition featuring the work of nine contemporary artists working in six different countries, from May 29 to August 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 am...

  • Colors of Confinement

    May 03, 2014 - Aug 31, 2014

    SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT Colors of Confinement presents 18 rare Kodachrome photographs taken by Bill Manbo during his incarceration at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming in 1943 and 1944. It shatters preconceptions about this episode of injustice by showing it to us in vivid and beautiful color. Manbo was ahead of his time—while others were shooting in black-and-white, he shot in Kodachrome, a technolog...

  • FILMMAKERS NAKAMURA, ISHIZUKA, LIN, ESAKI TO DISCUSS WATASE MEDIA ARTS CENTER ON SATURDAY, AUG. 1

    Jul 17, 2009

    Filmmakers and documentarians Robert Nakamura, Karen Ishizuka, Justin Lin and John Esaki will all comment on the past, present and future of Asian American film in a special public program set for Saturday, August, 1, beginning at 1 p.m., that marks the 10 years of work created by the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center of the Japanese American National Museum. The National Museum has been celebrating the 10 years sinc...

  • KOKESHI: FROM FOLK ART TO ART TOY EXHIBITION TO FEATURE OVER 300 DOLLS

    Jul 01, 2009

    A new exhibition, Kokeshi: From Folk Art to Art Toy, organized by the Los Angeles Toy, Doll & Amusements (LATDA) Museum in collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum, will bring together the traditional Japanese doll with hundreds of examples of contemporary and custom kokeshi created by American and international artists beginning on July 11 and running through October 4, 2009, at the National Museum, ...