Author: Esther Shin

Esther graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in the Summer of 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in History and a minor degree in Japanese. She was the curatorial intern at JANM for the 2013 Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program, and has also completed a marketing internship at the museum. Esther currently works as a Development Assistant for JANM.

Catch Nisei Widows Club at East West Players starting on November 7th!

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NWC

The Japanese American National Museum is pleased to support East West Players as a community partner for The Nisei Widows Club: How Tomi Got her Groove Back.

The third installment of The Nisei Widows Club comic trilogy follows the lives of a group of widowed Nisei (second generation) women who only have each other in the face of loss and the search for love in their golden years. Tomi loses her only son to a heart attack at the early age of 45, and the other widows gather around her during this time of grief. Hilarity ensues when they embark on an unforgettable trip to Hawaii, which unleashes the cougar in all of them at a hula retreat.

“The ‘Nisei Widows Club’ have really struck a humorous chord with the community, even though the story centers around loss,” says Tim Dang, Producing Artistic Director of East West Players. “This newest story will feature even more laughter demonstrating the strength of these senior citizen women in times of adversity.”

The production brings back the original four “Nisei Widows”—Takayo Fischer as Sumi, Emily Kuroda as Hana, June Kyoko Lu as Betty, Jeanne Sakata as Tomi. EWP introduces Tui Asau as the object of their desire—Kimo the hula teacher.

Traci Kato-Kiriyama and Johnny Kwon give powerful performances in the Gallery Performance, Our American Voice
Traci Kato-Kiriyama and Johnny Kwon give powerful performances in “Our American Voice”

JANM has a long history of partnership with East West Players—from hosting play readings presented by EWP, to our current collaboration, Our American Voice, a two-person show exploring six diverse stories of Asian Pacific Americans that is performed inside the exhibition gallery in conjunction with the I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story exhibition which was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

This dynamic gallery performance stars Traci Kato-Kiriyama and Johnny Kwon portraying both historic and fictional characters, including Gordon Hirabayashi, Katherine Cheung (the first licensed Asian American female aviator), and poet Carlos Bulosan.

If you haven’t seen it already, you have one last chance to see Our American Voice this Saturday, October 26 at 1PM! Be sure to check out the exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth, before it closes on Sunday, October 27.

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WORLD PREMIERE
The Nisei Widows Club: How Tomi Got Her Groove Back
By Betty Tokudani
Directed by Amy Hill

November 7 – December 8, 2013

Preview Performances:
Thursday, November 7 – November 9 at 8pm
Sunday, November 10 at 2pm
All preview seats are $21, $16 for students.

Regular Performances:
November 14 – November 29: Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm
November 30 – December 8: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm

David Henry Hwang Theater
at the Union Center of the Arts
120 Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012.

For more information please visit www.eastwestplayers.org

Highlights from the 3rd Annual Los Angeles International Tea Festival & Tea Ceremony Demonstration

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Japanese tea ceremony demonstration led by Masayo Sebata

 

On Saturday, September 28, the Los Angeles International Tea Festival returned to JANM for its 3rd year! This year’s Tea Festival was even more successful than in previous years, boasting an extended 24 participating tea vendors, more exciting workshops, and an extension into the Courtyard.

JANM also had a free Japanese tea ceremony demonstration in conjunction with the festival, presented as part of the Tateuchi Public Programs Series.

The Japanese tea ceremony is called chanoyu or sado in Japanese. The ceremony was presented on behalf of Chado Tea Room and Hamano Shachu from Urasenke. The group performed a choreographed ritual of preparing and serving tea together with traditional Japanese sweets.

The tea ceremony demonstration involved five participants—Chieko-san, the narrator who guided the audience through each step of the ceremony, assistant Mrs. Kawata, hostess Mrs. Masayo Sebata, and two guests.

The tea ceremony began with a brief history of the Japanese tea ceremony, and the importance of tea in Japanese culture. After the introduction, Chieko-san narrated the proceedings of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony as it was being performed on stage. The tea ceremony was concluded by a Q&A session, where the group answered a variety of questions relating to the Japanese tea ceremony. The Tateuchi Democracy Forum enjoyed a full house that evening, where an enthusiastic audience was able to view a beautiful tea ceremony performance, and learn more about the Japanese tea tradition.

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Check out these photos from the 3rd Annual Los Angeles International Tea Festival at JANM and the tea ceremony demonstration!

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Chado’s lovely display of their wide variety of teas.
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The tea festival is packed with indoor vendors!
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Visitors excitedly make stops from booth to booth.
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A group of tea-enthusiasts sample a cup of hot tea.
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Chado gives an enlightening introduction to tea.
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An eager audience awaits the next tea vendor presentation.
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Two guests, dressed is beautiful fall kimonos, help demonstrate the ritual of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
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Mrs. Sebata cleans off the chashaku (tea scoop) with a chakin (red silk scarf).
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“Every action in a Japanese tea ceremony is intentionally calculated,” Chieko-san explains as the hostess instructs one of her guests to begin eating her traditional Japanese sweets.
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Mrs. Sebata uses her chakin (red silk scarf) to meticulously wipe off a chawan (tea bowl).
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The hostess carefully pours hot water into the mizusashi (water jug).
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The assistant gracefully carries a bowl of hot chrysanthemum tea to the guests.
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The sensei (teacher), hostess, and narrator answer a variety of questions relating to the Japanese tea ceremony from the audience.

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Photos by Tsuneo Takasugi, R.M. Murakami, and John Esaki.

Catch a special screening of “The Untold Story” at JANM on October 26th!

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The Untold Story

On Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 2:00PM, JANM will present a special screening of The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai`i. Produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i, The Untold Story is the first full-length documentary to chronicle the internment experience of Japanese Americans in Hawai`i.

UNTOLD.STORYWithin 48 hours of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawai`i authorities arrested several hundred local residents—targeting Buddhist priests, Japanese language-school officials, newspaper editors, and business and community leaders. In total, more than 2,000 men and women of Japanese ancestry were arrested, detained, and interned at 13 different confinement sites located in Hawai`i. There was no evidence of espionage or sabotage, and no charges were ever filed against them. The Untold Story chronicles their story through oral histories, documents, interviews, and reenactments.

“While people have heard of places like Manzanar and Tule Lake, the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated on the mainland, few people are familiar with places like Honouliuli, Kalaheo Stockade, or that Japanese Americans were held at the Kilauea Military Camp during WWII,” said Carole Hayashino, president and executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i.

“Our film, The Untold Story, helps to ensure that the experience of over 2,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in Hawai`i who were picked up and imprisoned simply because of their ancestry is not forgotten.”

Don’t miss this special film screening and the Q&A session with the filmmakers afterwards!

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Visit the Discover Nikkei website for an insightful behind-the-scenes article on The Untold Story written by the director, Ryan Kawamoto:

Stepping into the Past: Behind the Scenes of The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i >>

The film screening is free with Museum admission. For more information please visit: janm.org/events

A Carlos Bulosan Centenary Celebration at JANM

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Carlos Bulosan

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Join us for a special Carlos Bulosan centenary celebration at JANM!

“The Writer is Also a Citizen,” is a FREE event, and will take place on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 2PM in the Tateuchi Democracy Forum.

Carlos Bulosan (1913-1956) was a poet, novelist, essayist, fiction writer, and labor organizer who left the Philippines at age 17 to look for work in the U.S. What he found was racism, low-paying jobs, and a brilliant and unexpected literary career.

In conjunction with the closing of the exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, whose title is taken from one of Bulosan’s poems, five Filipino-American writers—including poet Barbara Jane Reyes (Diwata, For the City That Nearly Broke Me) and playwright and novelist Noël Alumit (Letters to Montgomery Clift)—will read from Bulosan’s diverse body of work and from their own in celebration of the centenary of this seminal writer, worker, and citizen. Also featuring Rachelle Cruz, Giovanni Ortega, and Chris Santiago.

Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Bulosan

Don’t miss this celebration of Carlos Bulosan’s legacy, and the closing of the exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth.

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If you haven’t seen the exhibition already, I Want the Wide American will close on October 27, 2013, so be sure to catch it before then!

Also, if you haven’t had a chance to watch Our American Voice, the special two-person performance presented in collaboration with East West Players, the final two performances will be on Saturday, October 19 & Saturday, October 26 at 1PM. One of the six stories included is an excerpt from ALLOS by Giovanni Ortega which presents the story of Carlos Bulosan.

For more information on the exhibition, visit janm.org/wide-american-earth.

Don’t miss an exciting reading of “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo” on October 17!

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An actress performing in Hannah and the Dreaded Gazebo © Playwrights Foundation
An actress performing in Hannah and the Dreaded Gazebo © Playwrights Foundation

 

East West Players and JANM proudly present the Writers Gallery Reading of the Jiehae Park’s award-winning play, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo.

Playwright and performer, Jiehae Park © Ma-Yi Theater Company
Playwright and performer, Jiehae Park © Ma-Yi Theater Company

In this play, Hannah receives a FedEx box with two things: a 100% bona-fide-heart’s-desire-level wish and a suicide note. Hannah tracks the package back to Seoul, where her grandmother recently jumped from the roof of her retirement home onto the wrong side of the Demilitarized Zone. They’ll need North Korea’s permission to retrieve the body, but Kim Jong Il just kicked the bucket, and things in the DMZ are even stranger then they seem.

 

If Hannah and the Dread Gazebo sounds like your kind of show, don’t miss this FREE reading at 7:30PM on Thursday, October 17th!

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About the Playwright: Jiehae Park is a playwright and performer in NYC. She is the 2013-14 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellow, as well as a current Dramatists Guild Fellow and member of the Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab. Her second full-length, HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO, won the 2013 Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers and was developed at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and Ojai Playwrights Conference. The script was also a finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and Abingdon’s Chris Wolk Award. Her first play (and undergraduate thesis), HAPPY MOON DAY, HOLLY WOO, was a finalist for the Wolk Award and placed third in the East West Players/Irvine Foundation’s GOT LAUGHS competition. She served two years as co-artistic director of title3, a Los Angeles company dedicated to new works by women, and has been a mentor for the O’Neill’s Young Playwrights Festival. Proud member: Ma Yi Writers Lab, AEA, SAG-AFTRA. As a performer: NYTW, La Jolla Playhouse, Collection of Shiny Objects, Studio Theatre 2ndStage (DC), Young Playwrights Theatre (DC), REDCAT (LA). MFA (acting), UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse and BA (general theater shenanigans), Amherst College.

About the Director: Jennifer Chang‘s recent work includes Lady Windermere’s Fan (LA Weekly Pick of the Week), Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Ovation Nomination: Best Ensemble), and will be directing Fortinbras by Lee Blessing at the USC School of Dramatic Arts in the Spring of 2014. She is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director for the award-winning Chalk Repertory Theatre (Ovation Award, Best of LA 2013 – LA Weekly). As an actor, she has been on stages across the US, from our local EWP and South Coast Rep to theatres in New York City, Minneapolis, Philadelphia etc. She has appeared in numerous national commercials, Indie Films, and TV shows like Two and a Half Men, Parenthood, NCIS:LA, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, amongst others. Jennifer Chang received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MFA from the UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse program.

For more information on this event, visit: janm.org/events

For more information on East West Players, visit: eastwestplayers.org

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Jennifer Chang is also the director for Our American Voice, the special two-person show exploring six diverse stories of Asian Pacific Americans. Performed within the I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story exhibition gallery space, it is presented in partnership with East West Players. Free with Museum admission.

Only 2 more chances to see this show: Saturday, October 19 & Saturday, October 26. Both begin at 1pm and are approximately 45 minutes.

For more details >>

I Want the Wide American Earth’s promotional video is released!

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JANM's 2013 interns celebrate the end of a great summer internship!
JANM’s 2013 interns celebrate the end of a great summer internship!

Every summer the Getty Foundation organizes a Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program in Los Angeles that aims to encourage greater diversity in the professions related to museums and the visual arts. This year JANM hired three interns—Kelly in Media Arts, Cindi in Production, and myself, Esther, in the Curatorial department.

For the majority of the summer we worked separately, but for the last few weeks, we worked together to produce a final collaboration project which would culminate in a promotional video for the exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story.

Media Arts intern, Kelly, searches for artifacts on JANM's database.
Media Arts intern, Kelly, searches for artifacts on JANM’s database.

As the exhibition  takes a sweeping look at how Asian Pacific Americans have shaped and been shaped by the course of U.S. history, we decided to interview Asian Pacific Americans of different ethnicities, backgrounds, and occupations on a variety of topics. Our central question was “What do you want from your America?”. We also asked each interviewee to finish the sentence “I am…”. We got a wide array of answers that allows any viewer to appreciate the cultural, historical, and social diversity among Asian Pacific Americans.

Cindi and Esther are guided through JANM's artifacts by Collections Manager, Maggie Wetherbee.
The interns are guided through the Collections Department by JANM’s Collections Manager, Maggie Wetherbee.

For footage we used photographs from the exhibition itself, and made stops around Downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo and Chinatown. We also visited our own Collections Department at JANM to photograph artifacts and photographs that were relevant to the exhibition. It was an exciting day because we saw how expansive our Collections Department is, and we got to personally handle artifacts!

A shot from Wong Fu Productions' "10 Year Anniversary" clip.
A shot from Wong Fu Productions’ “10 Year Anniversary” clip.

We were also granted permission from Youtube stars including, fitness instructor Cassey Ho from Blogilates, singers David Choi and Clara C, and Wong Fu Productions for our preview clip. Although we did not use all of these clips for our final video, we were able to get exciting experience communicating with professionals, and were able compile more than enough footage so that we had many options while editing our video.

Check out our final video to see who’s footage and interviews made it into our collaboration project!

Curatorial intern, Esther carefully handling a "Justice for Vincent Chin" pin from the 80s.
Curatorial intern, Esther, carefully handling a “Justice for Vincent Chin” pin from the ’80s.

 

It was a time-consuming project, but it was also a great experience because we were able to collaborate with each other, appreciate each of our talents, and examine how different departments come together to produce a project. For us, this experience reinforced the fact that museums, including JANM, are not made up of individuals working separately, but rather, individuals working and collaborating together to produce something great!

 

Cindi, JANM's 2013 production intern, designing a event flyer.
Cindi, JANM’s 2013 production intern, designing an event flyer.

If you haven’t seen it already, I Want the Wide American Earth is on display at JANM until October 27th. Also, be sure to catch Our American Voice—a special two-person show starring Traci Kato-Kiriyama, and Johnny Kwon (also the narrators of our final video), exploring six diverse stories of Asian Pacific Americans. This special performance was produced in partnership with East West Players, and will be performed at 1pm in the exhibition gallery every Saturday for the duration of the exhibition.

Photos by: Kelly Gates, and Esther Shin.

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For more information on I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, visit: janm.org/wide-american-earth.

 

Don’t miss our comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday!

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Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986

Zap! Pow! Bam! Sounds like our comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday is coming up!

Visit JANM on October 12th from 11AM – 4PM to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986, with comics-themed crafts and activities!

Superhero cape & mask making
Make your own superhero cape and mask!

 

JANM has planned an action packed day!

From assembling your own popcorn snack with Kidding Around the Kitchen, to making your own superhero costume and capturing it in a photo booth, there are activities planned for kids of all ages and interests. You’ll even be able to watch vintage Japanese anime at its earliest roots from the 1920s and 1930s!

Make sure to catch a special Marvels & Monsters Gallery Talk at 11:30am by Jeff Yang, the curator of the exhibition. You won’t want to miss Jeff Yang share special insight into the creation of Marvels & Monsters!

 

jeff wnyc
Join curator, Jeff Yang, for a special Gallery Talk on the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters!

There will be an interactive activity shortly after the Gallery Talk where you can “Build a Hero” at 12PM, or “Build a Villain” at 2:30PM.

Jeff Yang will lead the audience in collaboratively creating an ORIGINAL comic book super-character who’ll be drawn in real time by comic artists from the Secret Identities and Shattered anthologies! There will also be a book signing after each of these sessions!

Batman Caricature by Cartoon Slinger
Batman Caricature by Cartoon Slinger

Don’t leave the Museum before getting a chance to turn yourself into a comic-book character with a caricature drawn by Cartoon Slinger! (*for children only, line ends at 2:30pm)

Make sure you top off your day by teaming up with your buddies to take down villains in superhero video games brought to you by Game Truck!

Read More

Vote for JANM by October 20th!

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VotingPlatformLogo

The Japanese American National Museum has been nominated in the 2013 Los Angeles Hot List for Best Museum!

Voting is easy, just go to www.la.cityvoter.com, and follow their instructions to help us win!

If you’ve enjoyed your visit to JANM—whether it was a public program, or an exhibition, or just support our mission and the work that we do – recommend us to other LA locals, and visitors by voting for us! Voting is now open and will stay open until October 20th! Every vote counts!

For the last 2 years (2011 & 2012), we’ve finished in 2nd place. Help us get to #1!

Go directly to JANM’s Hotlist voting page >>

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For more information about the Los Angeles Hot List, visit: www.la.cityvoter.com

For more information about the Museum, visit: www.janm.org

I Want the Wide American Earth – Opening Party Photos

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On Friday, September 13, the Japanese American National Museum threw an opening party to welcome our newest exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story. Created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, I Want the Wide American Earth explores the rich, and deep-rooted history of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.

This event was open to the public and attracted hundreds of visitors, including locals, and travelers from different states. Free food from Aloha Cafe and drinks from Ito-en and the Mighty Boba Truck were served throughout the reception, while exciting performances filled the evening.

From previews of Our American Voice in the exhibition gallery presented in partnership with East West Players, to powerful numbers by YouTube stars, DANakaDAN + Crew Love, to the comical performances of The Fung Brothers, it was an evening of enlightenment, reflection, and entertainment.

The evening began by celebrating the opening of an exhibition, but it soon became a night to celebrate the history, accomplishments, and the exciting future of Asian Pacific Americans.

Check out these pictures from the opening party! (Click on the photos to see them larger)

Photos by: Tsuneo Takasugi, Richard Watanabe, and Richard Murakami.

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If you haven’t seen I Want the Wide American Earth yet, stop by the museum to view the exhibition before it closes on October 27th. If you didn’t get a chance to watch Our American Voice, East West Players will be performing every Saturday at 1:00PM throughout the run of the exhibition. For more information on the exhibition: janm.org/wide-american-earth

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marvels-monsters-signature-500pxMarvels & Monsters opening next week!

Don’t miss our next exhibition opening event! Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 will be at JANM from October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014, but we’ll be celebrating early on Thursday, October 10 from 6PM – 9:30PM. 

Traveling to JANM from the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, Marvels & Monsters will illustrate how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades.

This preview reception will be hosted by the JANM Young Professionals Network and is free and open to the public! Get a sneak peek at the exhibition and check out readings of the winning short scenes from the “Marvels & Monsters: Unbound” Showcase!

For more information on the exhibition: janm.org/marvels-monsters

Kokoro Craft Boutique coming to JANM!

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Kokoro Craft Boutique 2013

On Saturday, October 5, 2013, the Friends of the Museum will host the Kokoro Craft Boutique at JANM from 10AM to 4PM. Proceeds will benefit JANM’s educational programs. Don’t miss this free showcase and sale of unique, artisan-quality items!

There will be 50 vendors in the craft boutique—including 3-D art, jewelry, kimono fabric fashions, woven & silk scarves, origami, handbags, cultural t-shirts, pottery, ceramics, bronze art, and more! This boutique will also feature crafts from Asian American pop culture juggernaut, Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot.

The Kokoro Craft Boutique will not only showcase and sell a wide variety of unique items, but there will also be taiko drumming by Yuujou Taiko at 1pm, and the Lomo Arigato Peruvian-Japanese Fusion Gourmet Truck will be selling their delicious food on the plaza.

A purchase of $10 or more at the boutique will provide you with free admission to the Museum’s exhibitions, and also with a 10% discount at participating Little Tokyo restaurants.

Check out these photos from last year’s Kokoro Craft Boutique held at JANM!

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Photos by Russel Kitagawa, Richard Murakami, and Richard Watanabe.

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For more information on the Kokoro Craft Boutique, email kokorocraft@gmail.com. For Museum hours, admission rates, and information, visit janm.org.

The Japanese American National Museum is located on the corner of 1st & Central. Public parking or transportation via the Metro Gold Line to “Little Tokyo/ Arts District” are available.