Japanese American National Museum Explained

Japanese American National Museum
Established:1992
Location:Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California
Type:History and culture of Japanese Americans
Website:www.janm.org

The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.[1]

The museum covers more than 130 years of Japanese-American history, dating to the first Issei generation of immigrants. Its moving image archive contains over 100000feet of 16 mm and 8 mm home movies made by and about Japanese Americans from the 1920s to the 1950s. It also contains artifacts, textiles, art, photographs, and oral histories of Japanese Americans. The Japanese American National Museum of Los Angeles and the Academy Film Archive collaborate to care for and provide access to home movies that document the Japanese-American experience. Established in 1992, the JANM Collection at the Academy Film Archive currently contains over 250 home movies and continues to grow.[2]

History

Activist Bruce Teruo Kaji (1926–2017) was the founding president of the museum.[3] [4] He worked alongside other prominent Japanese-Americans to create the museum. The community had become organized around gaining recognition of the injustice they had suffered from the federal government during World War II.

The museum was conceived as a way to preserve the positive aspects of their full history and culture in the United States. When it first opened in 1992, the museum was housed in the 1925 historic Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple building. Irene Hirano served as its first executive director and later as president and CEO of the museum.[5] In January 1999, the National Museum opened its current 85000square feet Pavilion, designed under the supervision of architect Gyo Obata, to the public.[6] The temple building was used by government officials in 1942 to process Japanese Americans for wartime confinement. It is now used for offices and storage.

In 1993 the museum was given hundreds of artifacts and letters from children in internment camps, which they had sent to San Diego librarian Clara Breed. The material was featured in an exhibit, "Dear Miss Breed": Letters from Camp. It is now part of the museum's permanent collection.[7]

In 1997, the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center was established by Robert A. Nakamura and Karen L. Ishizuka, to develop new ways to document, preserve and make known the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry. In 1999, the Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center (HNRC) was established to provide access to the museum's information and resources, both at the facility and online. It documents the life and culture of the Japanese Americans.

Akemi Kikumura Yano, author,[8] was the museum's first curator. She succeeded Irene Hirano as president and CEO from 2008 until 2011. During her tenure, in December 2010, the museum was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.[9]

Rev. Greg Kimura, an Episcopal priest, was appointed the president and CEO of the museum, serving between 2012 and 2016.[10] [11] [12] During his time the museum experienced an economic downturn as he looked to promote untraditional exhibits and let go core staff members. He resigned in May 2016 to pursue other work opportunities.[13]

In 2016, Ann Burroughs was announced to replace him as the new interim CEO[14] and was officially selected shortly thereafter. Burroughs spoke of her role: "I am committed to reinvigorating and finding new ways to advance the museum’s key values, emphasizing the importance of being vigilant about democracy and stressing the value of diversity in our world today."[15]

Actor George Takei serves as a member of the museum's board of trustees. He represented it as his charity during his time on The Celebrity Apprentice and during his appearance on The Newlywed Game.[16]

Exhibits

The museum has three on-going exhibitions. The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai is an interactive exhibition in which Lawson has answered a thousand questions regarding himself and his legacy.[17] Common Ground: The Heart of Community, covers 130 years of Japanese American history, from the Issei and early immigration into the United States, World War II incarceration, to the present.[18] Lastly, Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 is an online exhibition featuring photographs of the Japanese American community in Los Angeles prior to World War II and of urban life in Hiroshima prior to the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.[19]

Selected previous exhibitions

Major projects

Completed in 2022, the Ireichō is the first comprehensive listing of the over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II. A physical book was printed and displayed at the museum for internees and their friends and family to acknowledge, honor, and if necessary, correct the record within the database.[61] [62] [63]

Discover Nikkei, a multilingual, online resource that presents the global Nikkei experience through first-person narratives, historic photos and research, and opportunities for user engagement. The museum's International Nikkei Research Project produced the book New Worlds, New Lives (2002).

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2007 . Japanese American National Museum . Affiliate detail . Smithsonian Affiliations . 17 Jul 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110929004344/http://affiliations.si.edu/AffiliateDetail.Asp?AffiliateID=38 . 29 September 2011 . dead .
  2. Web site: Japanese American National Museum Collection. Academy Film Archive.
  3. Web site: Bruce T. Kaji . 2022-04-20 . Densho Digital Repository.
  4. Web site: Vankin . Deborah . 2017-11-09 . Bruce Kaji dies at 91; Japanese American National Museum founder and Little Tokyo pioneer . 2022-04-20 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  5. Web site: Yamato . Sharon . Japanese American National Museum . Densho Encyclopedia . 30 October 2014.
  6. Patt Morrison, Cecilia Rasmussen, Angels Walk – Union Station, El Pueblo, Little Tokyo, Civic Center, Angels Walk LA, Inc., 2000
  7. Web site: Dear Miss Breed: Letters from Camp. Japanese American National Museum. 28 February 2014.
  8. Web site: Kikumura-Yano, Akemi 1944- [WorldCat Identities]]. Sep 12, 2019.
  9. Web site: AKEMI KIKUMURA YANO DECIDES TO STEP DOWN AS PRESIDENT/CEO OF JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM | Press Releases | Japanese American National Museum. www.janm.org. Sep 12, 2019.
  10. Web site: Alaska priest appointed as CEO of Japanese American museum. 26 January 2012 . Sep 12, 2019.
  11. Web site: Japanese American National museum hires CEO. 2012-01-21. 2014-05-10. Los Angeles Times. Watanabe. Teresa.
  12. Web site: New CEO Shakes Up Japanese American National Museum. 2012-09-25. 2014-05-10. LA Downtown News. Guzmán. Richard.
  13. "APAs in the News," Pacific Citizen, June 3–16, 2016, p. 4.
  14. Web site: JANM ANNOUNCES INTERIM PRESIDENT/CEO | Press Releases | Japanese American National Museum. www.janm.org. Sep 12, 2019.
  15. Web site: JANM Names New Leader. Jon. Regardie. Los Angeles Downtown News - The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles. Sep 12, 2019.
  16. News: A Day in Gay America. 25. Advocate. November 2011.
  17. Web site: The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai . April 26, 2023 . Japanese American National Museum.
  18. Web site: Common Ground: The Heart of Community. 2014-05-10. Japanese American National Museum.
  19. Web site: Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 . April 26, 2023 . Japanese American National Museum.
  20. Web site: Glenn Kaino: Aki's Market . April 26, 2023 . Japanese American National Museum.
  21. Web site: Don't Fence Me In: Coming of Age in America's Concentration Camps . April 26, 2023 . Japanese American National Museum.
  22. Web site: Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration . April 26, 2023 . Japanese American National Museum.
  23. Web site: BeHere / 1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration . Japanese American National Museum.
  24. Web site: Miné Okubo's Masterpiece Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  25. Web site: A Life in Pieces Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  26. Web site: Under a Mushroom Cloud Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  27. Web site: Taiji Terasaki: Transcendients Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  28. Web site: At First Light Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  29. Web site: Kaiju vs Heroes Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  30. Web site: Gambatte! Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  31. Web site: hapa.me - 15 years of the hapa project Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  32. Web site: What We Carried Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  33. Web site: Transpacific Borderlands Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  34. Web site: New Frontiers Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  35. Web site: Instructions to All Persons Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  36. Web site: Tatau Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  37. Web site: Uprooted Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  38. Web site: Above the Fold Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  39. Web site: Making Waves Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  40. Web site: Not just cute and not a cat: Hello Kitty's first museum retrospective. 2014-10-09. 2015-04-23. Los Angeles Times.
  41. Web site: Two Views Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  42. Web site: Giant Robot Biennale 4 Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  43. Web site: Before They Were Heroes Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  44. Web site: Sugar/Islands Japanese American National Museum. 2021-09-23. www.janm.org.
  45. Web site: Baseball Theme at JANM's Target Free Family Saturday. 2014-05-09. 2014-05-10. Rafu Shimpo.
  46. Web site: Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game at JANM; Plus Perseverance and Mike Kelley. 2014-04-01. 2014-05-10. Imprint Culture Lab. https://web.archive.org/web/20140512222516/http://www.imprintculturelab.com/editorial-2/dodgers-brotherhood-of-the-game-at-janm-plus-perseverance-and-mike-kelley/. 2014-05-12. dead.
  47. Web site: Loved abroad, hated at home: the art of Japanese tattooing. 2014-03-04. 2014-05-10. The Japan Times. Mitchell. Jon.
  48. Web site: Marvels and Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986. 2011-05-19. 2014-05-10. Angry Asian Man.
  49. Web site: Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami—An Interview with Curator Meher McArthur. 2012-03-02. 2014-05-10. Discover Nikkei. Mori. Darryl.
  50. Web site: JANM Exhibit Looks at the Contributions of Post-War Japanese American Artists. 2011-11-18. 2014-05-10. LA Downtown News. Guzmán. Richard.
  51. Web site: Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles. 2012-01-20. 2014-05-10. Discover Nikkei.
  52. Web site: Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo. 2011-08-31. 2014-05-10. LA Weekly. Babayan. Siran.
  53. Web site: "Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids" Exhibition in L.A.. 2014-04-19. 2014-05-10. The Huffington Post. Namkung. Victoria.
  54. Web site: Adjunct Ruby Osorio in group exhibition 20 Years Ago Today at the Japanese American National Museum. 2014-05-10. USC Roski School of Art and Design.
  55. Web site: Seeing Things . 2008-06-26. 2014-05-10. The New York Times Style Gazine. Hodge. Brooke].
  56. Web site: Mike Shinoda | Glorious Excess (Born) Recap|date = 2008-07-14|access-date = 2014-05-10|publisher = Hypebeast|last = Ruano|first = L.}} ] and Contemporary Art (June 15 - September 7, 2008)[55] .
  57. Web site: half enough: The East L.A. Gardeners Association sign on First Street. 2014-06-08. 2014-05-10. Discover Nikkei. Kraus. Victoria.
  58. Web site: The Power of Place: Boyle Heights Project. 2014-05-10.
  59. Web site: Sumo U.S.A.: Wrestling the Grand Tradition Opens at the Japanese American National Museum. 1997-07-01. 2014-05-10. Japanese American National Museum. Komai. Chris.
  60. Web site: Dear Miss Breed: Letters from Camp.... 2014-05-10. Japanese American National Museum.
  61. News: Enking . Molly . The First-Ever List of Japanese Americans Forced Into Incarceration Camps Is 1,000 Pages Long . Smithsonian Magazine . 18 November 2022.
  62. News: Sánchez . Gabriel . A project collects the names of those held at Japanese internment camps during WWII . NPR All Things Considered . 29 January 2023.
  63. Web site: About this Exhibition . Japanese American National Museum . 23 July 2023.

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