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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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  • JANM Statement on the 2024 Presidential Election

    Nov 11, 2024

    LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) respects the democratic process to select the next president of the United States. As an institution whose mission is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity, JANM is committed to democracy and to standing against divisiveness and discrimination. The Museum continues to welcome all visitors to its exhibitions, ...

  • JANM Condemns Proposal to Invoke Alien Enemies Act to Enforce Mass Deportations

    Oct 16, 2024

    LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) condemns the former President’s proposal to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to enforce mass deportations of migrants without due process. That law permits deporting people from countries with which the US is at war and that have invaded the US. In 1941, President Roosevelt used it to arrest and detain citizens of Japan, Germany, and Italy without due...

  • Reading of Velina Hasu Houston’s "Madame Butterfly"

    Oct 19, 2019

    FREE What is the "real" story of Madame Butterfly? In John Luther Long’s 1898 short story, Madame Butterfly, the demise of the fictional lead character is quite a bit different than depicted in the famed story in Giacomo Puccini’s similarly named opera or the reincarnation of that female essence in Cameron Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon musical theatre play. In a new play and film, Velina Hasu Houston explores...

  • STATEMENT BY ANN BURROUGHS, JANM PRESIDENT AND CEO, ON THE PASSING OF DEAN MATSUBAYASHI, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER

    Sep 07, 2019

    "On behalf of the Trustees, Governors, Staff, Volunteers, and Supporters of the Japanese American National Museum, I wanted to convey our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Dean Matsubayashi and to the Little Tokyo Service Center on his recent passing. "As the Executive Director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), Dean built on the foundations laid by his predecessor and mentor Bill Wat...

  • 2017 Oshogatsu Family Festival—Year of the Rooster

    Jan 08, 2017

    FREE ALL DAY! Ring in the Year of the Rooster with food, crafts, cultural activities, and performances! Join author Sonoko Sakai for a hands-on onigiri (Japanese rice ball snacks) workshop Watch a rainbow mochi demonstration by Brian Kito of Fugetsu-Do Confectioners Watch Kodama Taiko’s unique mochitsuki (rice pounding) demonstration Japanese drumming performance by TAIKOPROJECT See below for comp...

  • 70 YEARS LATER: THE LESSONS OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066

    Feb 15, 2012

    By Gordon Yamate and Seth Gerber The 70th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 marks one of the saddest tragedies of our great country: the compulsory expulsion from their homes and false imprisonment of Americans of Japanese ancestry on U.S. soil during World War II. The signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942, is often seen as the first domino to fall in a chain of xenophobi...

  • The White Bird of Poston

    May 15, 2011

    This new piece is being produced in LA Opera's In School Opera program for Secondary Schools this year. The Composer is Eli Villanueva. The Librettist is Leslie Stevens. In the high school performances, this 47 minute original opera will have four professional principal singers, three professional musicians with original set, costume and lighting design. The participating students will become the singing, moving, act...

  • Conversations with the Finding Family Stories Artists

    Mar 12, 1998

    Panel Discussion at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Featuring: Joyce Dallal, Eddy Kurushima, and Judith Lowry Artists Joyce Dallal, Eddy Kurushima, and Judith Lowry will talk about their work, their inspirations, and the role of art in defining cultural communities. Free.

  • Experience the Museum

    JANM is dedicated to promoting greater understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the richness and range of the Japanese American experience.

  • OUR PROMISE

    CAMPAIGN GOALS WAYS TO GIVE UPCOMING EVENTS PRESS DONATE Our story is an American story. Our founders promised that the Museum would stand as a beacon of civil rights to ensure that what happened to Japanese Americans in 1942 would never happen to any other group. We are therefore embarking on the largest campaign in our history to secure our future and transform our physical and digital presence, our exhibitions, an...