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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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  • 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...

  • On the Passing of Lane Ryo Hirabayashi

    Aug 25, 2020

    Los Angeles, CA – The leadership, staff and volunteers of the Japanese American National Museum were deeply saddened by the recent passing of Dr. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi. Having served as the George and Sakaye Aratani Professor of the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress and Community and as the chair of the Asian American Studies Department at UCLA from 2006 until his retirement in 2017, Lane was respected for his ...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Making Waves

    Feb 28, 2016 - Jun 26, 2016

    In the early 1900s, groups of Japanese Americans formed photography clubs along the Pacific coast from Los Angeles to Seattle. Their photographs were exhibited and published internationally to considerable acclaim, and admired by other photographers including Edward Weston and László Moholy-Nagy. Through artfully arranged images, the photographers represented the Japanese cultural heritage that they knew and loved; a...

  • 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...

  • NATIONAL MUSEUM SETS 2011 OSHOGATSU FAMILY FESTIVAL ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 2

    Dec 24, 2010

    To open 2011, the Japanese American National Museum will once again hold its free annual Oshogatsu (New Year) Family Festival on Sunday, January 2, 2011, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at its facility in Little Tokyo, featuring taiko performances, food demonstrations and tastings, and arts and crafts related to the arrival of a new year. At the MOCA Geffen facility (next door to the National Museum), a special Sunday Studio...

  • ‘CROSSINGS’ EXHIBITION FEATURES ARTISTS' TAKE ON WWII CONCENTRATION CAMPS

    Mar 31, 2009

    Crossings: 10 Views of America’s Concentration Camps, a new exhibition providing an artist’s perspective into the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II by the U.S. government, looks at artwork from the past and present in an attempt to provide greater insight into a dark episode of American history. The exhibition opens April 2 at the National Museum. By comparing works from the...

  • EDITORS ROBINSON, CREEF TO DISCUSS MINE OKUBO ANTHOLOGY MARCH 7

    Mar 03, 2009

    A special presentation of excerpts from the new anthology, Mine Okubo: Following Her Own Road, will be presented by the book’s editors, Greg Robinson and Elena Tajima Creef, at a public program set for Saturday, March 7, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. The anthology is an examination of the life and works of artist Mine Okubo (1912-2001), a pioneering Nisei artist and ...