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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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  • Special Screening: “The Dragon Painter” featuring Sessue Hayakawa

    Mar 01, 2025

    Join the Little Tokyo Historical Society and the Japanese American National Museum for a special screening of the 1919 silent film, The Dragon Painter, with live music composed and performed by Goh Nakamura. The program will include remarks by Dr. Daisuke Miyao, a professor of Japanese films at the University of California San Diego.Written by film star Sessue Hayakawa, The Dragon Painter, stars Hayakawa as Tasu, the...

  • The Art of Museum and Memory with Karen Tei Yamashita

    Mar 25, 2022

    Free RSVP for In Person RSVP for Virtual Join us in a celebration of author Karen Tei Yamashita, UC Santa Cruz emerita professor of literature, who was recently awarded the 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards. Yamashita will discuss her work and writings, followed by an audience Q&A moderated by Jasmi...

  • Tea & Letter Writing: Letters of Solace

    Sep 09, 2020

    PAY-WHAT-YOU-WISH $10 suggested donation At the start of safer at home orders in Los Angeles, we gathered virtually for the first time to write letters to seniors who were isolating physically in their homes in Little Tokyo. Now, six months later, we will be writing again to our community elders to see how they are now and how we can continue to provide comfort and connection. Gather with us in the comfort of ...

  • Daughters of Hibakusha Tell Hiroshima Stories

    Aug 15, 2020

    PAY-WHAT-YOU-WISH Two award-winning Japanese American authors, Kathleen Burkinshaw and Naomi Hirahara, join together for the first time to discuss how they felt compelled to tell the stories of their Hiroshima hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) parents through novels. Burkinshaw’s middle-grade book, The Last Cherry Blossom, has become a resource for teachers and students under the United Nations Office for D...

  • 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: Incredible Inks

    Nov 12, 2016

    FREE ALL DAY In conjunction with our current exhibition Tatau: Marks of Polynesia, join us for a day of crafts, workshops, and performances that celebrate Polynesian culture and the art of tattoos. ALL DAY ACTIVITIES: Get a cool custom JANM temporary tattoo. Try designing your own tattoos and motifs using traditional Samoan techniques such as the upeti board. Learn to fold origami sharks wi...

  • GEORGE TAKEI DONATES PERSONAL COLLECTION TO JANM

    Sep 28, 2016

    Pioneering actor and passionate civil rights activist George Takei has donated his personal collection, which represents the many facets of his life and career, to the Japanese American National Museum. The collection will serve as the foundation of a new exhibition that will open at the museum in March 2017, titled New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei. The George Takei Collection features a wide ra...

  • 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...

  • 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, ...