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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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  • The Japanese American National Museum Condemns Record Level of Antisemitic Incidents in 2022

    Apr 07, 2023

    LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) condemns the rise in antisemitic incidents throughout the US. According to an annual audit by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), antisemitic incidents rose by 36% in 2022. The ADL noted that there was a total of 3,697 reported incidents, with 518 cases in California. California is among the top five states with the most cases in the nation. The ADL also no...

  • The Japanese American National Museum Condemns the Murders of Keenan Anderson and Tyre Nichols

    Feb 02, 2023

    LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) condemns the heinous murders of Keenan Anderson and Tyre Nichols by the police—part of the systemic racism and discrimination that plagues people of color throughout America. “To deny that systemic racism and discrimination factors into violence at the hands of law enforcement is to deny that racial prejudice shapes their responses. Robbing these young...

  • Detention/Resistance: Japanese American and Latinx Histories of Incarceration

    May 20, 2021

    From Spanish colonial missions to WWII concentration camps to present day ICE run “family detention centers,” the history of the U.S. is marked by the mass incarceration due to racism and xenophobia that has affected Japanese and Latin Americans. In 1942, Crystal City detention facility opened in south Texas as one of the many sites around the U.S. used to incarcerate those of Japanese ancestry during WWII. Unique to...

  • 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...

  • 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, ...