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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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  • Contested Histories at J-Sei (Emeryville, CA)

    Sep 29, 2018 - Oct 07, 2018

    TRAVELING DISPLAY J-Sei Emeryville, CA Saturday–Sunday: 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Friday: 2 p.m.–5 p.m. and by appointment Allen Hendershott Eaton’s historic 1952 book, Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps, explored art and craft objects created by persons of Japanese descent while wrongfully incarcerated in the World War II American concentration camps. It was...

  • JANM STATEMENT ON REFERENCE TO INCARCERATION OF JAPANESE AMERICANS AT SHERMAN OAKS EVENT ON HOMELESS HOUSING

    Sep 26, 2018

    Los Angeles, CA—Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu recently hosted an event in Sherman Oaks to provide residents with information about possible homeless shelter and housing sites. One attendee cited the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as an example of how the federal government can—and should—step in and move a group of people out of urban areas. This is just the latest reprehensible examp...

  • Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day

    Sep 22, 2018

    Free admission to JANM all day! In the spirit of the Smithsonian Museums, which offer free admission every day, JANM is offering FREE admission all day as part of the annual Museum Day event.

  • "Kaiju vs Heroes" Opening Day Panel and Signing

    Sep 15, 2018

    In conjunction with the opening of Kaiju vs. Heroes, toy designer and collector Mark Nagata and Marusan toy company President Eiji Kaminaga will participate in a discussion about kaiju toy history, the world of Japanese toy collecting, and their companies’ histories (Nagata is the founder of Max Toy Company). The Marusan toy company created some of the first vinyl kaiju and hero toys of the 1960s and these toys m...

  • Members Only Exhibition Tour: "Kaiju vs Heroes"

    Sep 15, 2018

    In California in the 1970s, Mark Nagata was living an all-American childhood when an aunt and uncle serving on a US military base in Japan sent him a box filled with colorful kaiju and hero toys. For Nagata, those toys and the artwork of their packaging inspired him to study art, to zealously collect vintage Japanese vinyl toys, and to become a toy designer himself. Join Mark Nagata for a gallery tour during which...

  • ZOCALO—Can U.S. Democracy Survive Russian Information Warfare?

    Sep 14, 2018

    A Zócalo/Japanese American National Museum Event at JANM’s National Center for the Preservation of Democracy Moderated by Warren Olney, Host, KCRW’s "To the Point" American intelligence services have unanimously concluded that the Russian government intervened in the 2016 US elections, and seeks to meddle again this fall. One of Russia’s methods was to use social media to distribute disinformation. ...

  • Upper Level Members and VIP Reception: "Kaiju vs Heroes"

    Sep 14, 2018

    Members at the Sustaining Level and above are invited to preview Kaiju vs Heroes: Mark Nagata’s Journey through the World of Japanese Toys before it opens to the public. See hundreds of dazzling vintage and contemporary Japanese vinyl toys, providing a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Program with a light reception to follow. Invitations were mailed in early August. Contact membership@janm.org to upgrade yo...

  • Kaiju vs Heroes

    Sep 15, 2018 - Jul 07, 2019

    With mighty fangs, menacing horns, and iridescent gold scales, the lizard monster Drazoran crushes an imaginary city while Captain Maxx, wearing a bright red suit, flies in to save the day. Drazoran and Captain Maxx are two of the monsters and heroes that emerged from the creative mind of Mark Nagata, a toy designer and fervent toy collector. At JANM, Drazoran and Captain Maxx join hundreds of dazzling vintage and co...

  • JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM TRAVELS “CONTESTED HISTORIES” TO SEATTLE

    Sep 13, 2018

    Los Angeles, CA—The Japanese American National Museum will travel its pop-up display of the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection, which was saved from the auction block in 2015 through the efforts of Japanese American community leaders and activists, to NVC Hall in Seattle. The display will be free and open to the public on November 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. While conducting research for a book about art a...

  • JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM RECEIVES BEQUEST FROM ESTATE OF SETSUKO OKA

    Sep 11, 2018

    Los Angeles, CA—The Japanese American National Museum has received a bequest in excess of $525,000 from the estate of Setsuko Oka, a longtime museum member who died in October 2017. The funds will go toward educational initiatives as well as exhibitions and programs focused on Japanese artistic and cultural heritage in the United States, through the soon-to-be-established Setsuko Oka Japanese Heritage Fund. A plaque ...