Author: Vicky Murakami-Tsuda

Communications Production Manager at the Japanese American National Museum. I coordinate printed publications, manage web-based projects, and lots of other stuff. I also write an occasional column for our DiscoverNikkei.org project.

Stan Sakai at JANM for book signing on October 30!

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Stan Sakai will be at the Museum for a book signing on Sunday, October 30 from 12-1:30pm!

Photo by Nobuyuki Okada

Next Sunday will also be your last chance to see the Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo exhibition before it closes.

Due to time constraints, Stan will only be signing books. Only 3 books per person at a time (depending on how crowded it is, you could get back in line if you have more books you want signed).

Avoid the lines & buy your books from the Museum Store early! Don’t forget, Museum Members get a 10% discount at the Store…and signed books make great gifts!

Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo
Closes Sunday, October 30, 2011
For more info on the exhibition >>

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Kids! Check out the “Fun Stuff” page on the exhibition site to download a special Usagi Yojimbo coloring sheet. Color it in and bring it to the museum to receive one free Youth admission! Offer expires 10/30/11.

Patrick Nagatani exhibition opens November 19

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Growing up, I used to put together jigsaw puzzles together with my family. In some ways, working at the museum reminds me of that.

One of the things I enjoy most about working at the museum is getting to learn new stories. The diversity of these stories and the individuals and topics covered keeps my interest continually piqued whether it’s community history, individual stories, cultural traditions, or art. All of these diverse stories are like pieces of the puzzle that make up the Japanese American experience.

Now that Drawing the Line has opened, it’s time to add the next piece of the puzzle. Desire for Magic: Patrick Nagatani 1978-2008 opens at the museum on November 19th!

Image from "Japanese Children’s Day Carp Banners, Paguate Village, Jackpile Mine Uranium Tailings, Laguna Pueblo Reservation, New Mexico," 1990, Chromogenic print

Created by the University of New Mexico’s University Art Museum, the exhibition is the first comprehensive look at the many and varied projects artist Patrick Nagatani has worked on since 1978.

As I’ve learned more about Nagatani and his process for creating his pieces, I’ve become more interested in seeing them in person and am eagerly awaiting their arrival from New Mexico.

Learn more about the exhibition >>

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SAVE THE DATE!

Gallery Walk Through & Book Signing with Patrick Nagatani
Saturday, December 10 from 2-4pm

December 10th is one of our Target FREE Family Saturdays, so it’s a great day to visit with free crafts & workshops, plus free admission to check out all of our exhibitions!

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Stay tuned for more updates!

“Farewell to Manzanar” screening with Director John Korty!

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Our Farewell to Manzanar screening is coming up this Sunday! The special guest will be Director John Korty who will participate in a Q&A following the screening.

One of our volunteers recently interviewed the award-winning director for our Discover Nikkei website about how he got into filmmaking, and about making Farewell to Manzanar into a film.

Read the interview >>

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If you haven’t already purchased tickets for this special screening, here’s the info:

Farewell to Manzanar screening
Japanese American National Museum
Sunday, October 23, 2011 • 2pm
Join Director John Korty for a Q&A following the screening!

$25 Members; $30 non-members, includes admission and a complimentary copy of the DVD.

Purchase tickets >>

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If you can’t make it to the screening, you can also order copies of the DVD from the Museum Store. The DVD includes bonus features: the Remembering Manzanar documentary created for the Manzanar National Historic Site; and an interview with Jeanne Wakatasuki Houston from when she was honored at the Museum’s 2006 Gala Dinner.

Order the DVD from the Museum Store >>

View video clips from the interview on Discover Nikkei >>

Volunteer Docent Sergio Holguin

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For many people who visit the Museum, the highlight of their visit is often getting a tour from one of our many dedicated volunteer docents. Many of our docents share their own or their family’s first-hand experiences from World War II. However, as our older Nisei volunteers have slowed down a bit, the demand for docents is being increasingly met by those whose families were not incarcerated in America’s concentration camps.

Photo by Richard Watanabe

Although their experiences aren’t first-hand, their being there to share the Japanese American experience with our visitors is very important, and in some ways may even help non-JA visitor relate more with the stories.

One of our younger docents is Sergio Holguin, a computer science major at Cal Poly Pomona. Sergio is a third-generation Mexican American. He recently wrote a wonderful article for our Discover Nikkei website that shares how he became interested in Japanese American history, and why he decided to volunteer at the Museum.

Nisei? Sansei? No, I’m just a Gakusei
By Sergio Holguin
Read his article >>

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P.S. Here’s a 2009 article on Discover Nikkei about another non-JA Museum docent—Nahan Gluck:

The History of Japanese Americans from the Perspective of a German American: Mr. Nahan Gluck, docent for the Japanese American National Museum

Drawing the Line opening tonight!

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The opening celebration for Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles is just a couple of hours away!

Join us tonight from 5:30 to 8pm to celebrate the opening members, many of the artists and their families & friends, and special guests. There’ll be a special performance by Nobuko Miyamoto with Benny Yee & Atomic Nancy!

Our staff & volunteers have been working hard to get the show ready to open. Along with the artwork & artifacts, our Watase Media Arts Center has developed new video segments about each of the featured artists. You’ll be able to view them in the exhibition, but will also be available for sale on a DVD through the Museum Store. There’s also a Guide by Cell audio guide with audio clips from the interview.

Check out the updated exhibition site for more info on the Guide by Cell, to see the bios for the featured artists, plus links to full scans from 4 issues of Gidra magazine on Discover Nikkei! There’s also more exhibition-related public programs added (more to come!).

NEW! How to do your own oral history interview tutorial on Discover Nikkei

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Have you ever wanted to record the history of your grandparents, your parents, or other people in your life?

In 2009, Cole Kawana was a sixth grader at Seven Arrows School. His assignment was to do a service-learning project, and so with the help of his extended family, he conducted an oral history interview with his great-uncle, Arthur Ichiro Murakami, who is a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor.

In addition to the oral history, he decided to create a video tutorial so that he could teach and encourage his fellow students to try it for themselves.

His video tutorial was shown as part of Xploration Lab this past spring. It’s now also on the Museum’s Discover Nikkei website.

We’ve split the tutorial up into segments, with each one going over different steps in the process, including equipment, preparation, conducting the interview, and follow-up.

In addition to Cole’s tutorial video clips, we’ve added a downloadable checklist and sample release form. We’re also working on sample questions and translating everything into the other site languages (Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese).

At the end of the page, you can view the interview that Cole conducted with his great-uncle, plus links to additional online oral history resources.

Check out the tutorial on Discover Nikkei >>

Many thanks to Cole and his family for letting us share his video! Thanks to Sam Arbizo, Esther Newman, Yoko Nishimura, and Geoff Jost for working to get the tutorial online!

 

“Farewell to Manzanar” release on DVD

Vicky Murakami-Tsuda 1 Comment

After 35 years, Farewell to Manzanar will FINALLY be available for people to buy!

In 1976, the made-for-TV movie was shown on NBC, directed by John Korty from a screenplay written by the original authors of the book—Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her husband James D. Houston. It was a film made for a mainstream audience using Japanese American actors and many crew, something that is still pretty unheard of today.

There were several reasons why it was never re-broadcast, and only rarely shown after its initial viewing. It was also never made available for sale for the public, despite constant requests from the community, as well as from many educators who use the book in their classrooms as part of their curriculum.

Personally, I’m really excited about the release on DVD because I’ve never actually seen it. I do remember reading it in junior high school for a class assignment, and I’ve heard about the film version so many times. I used to work in the Museum’s Store for many years, and one of the most consistent (and persistent) questions I got year after year was whether we had it for sale. I’m so glad that I can now finally say “Yes!”

FAREWELL TO MANZANAR SCREENING

The Museum is doing a special screening of Farewell to Manzanar on Sunday, October 23 at 2pm in the Democracy Forum. Join special guests for a screening and Q&A. Tickets are $25 for Members or $30 for non-members, and includes Museum admission and a complimentary copy of the DVD. Purchase tickets for the screening >>

You can also order the DVD from the Museum Store >>

LEARN MORE

We asked Esther Newman, one of our volunteer writers, to write a series of articles about the film for our Discover Nikkei website. The first one was published today: Farewell to Manzanar on DVD—Timeless and Timely

Additional pieces will look at director John Korty and the actors in the film.

“Drawing the Line” exhibition opening soon!

Vicky Murakami-Tsuda 1 Comment

Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles…the title says it all. But what can you really expect to see?

Here's a few quick shots taken on my phone. Just a few teasers from the in-progress installation of "Drawing the Line"

Paintings, sketches, photographs, video clips, historic documents, a trophy, a guitar, and a Corvette!

In-progress installation shot of Ben Sakoguchi paintings in "Drawing the Line"

Curious? Intrigued?

Then make plans to join us for the exhibition opening on Saturday, October 15 at 5:30pm. Some light refreshments, hear from curator Kris Kuramitsu, check out the exhibition, meet some of the artists, and take in a special performance by Nobuko Miyamoto with Benny Yee and Atomic Nancy!

In-progress installation shot of Qris Yamashita's works

Please RSVP to specialevents@janm.org by October 11th for the opening event.

For more information about the exhibition, check out the link below.

This is part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time project, so we hope to have a good turn-out for this event!

DRAWING THE LINE:
Japanese American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles
October 15, 2011 through February 19, 2012
janm.org/exhibits/drawingtheline

Thanks to Tom Schay, we'll have a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray in the exhibition. This iconic car and many others were designed by Larry Shinoda.
“Drawing the Line” banner is already outside!

 

30-second volunteer videos

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Our volunteers are amazing. They continually inspire us with their dedication and enthusiasm. They are even willing to step outside their comfort zones if it means helping the museum to share the important stories of the Japanese American experience.

Since last summer, staff at our Watase Media Arts Center along with interns and volunteers have been working on a series of digital shorts that record many of our docents and other volunteers. The videos share the volunteer’s personal stories related to artifacts from our core Common Ground: The Heart of Community exhibition.

We’re collecting them together for easy access on our Discover Nikkei website. There are already 15 of the videos online, with more being added almost weekly.

Check out the volunteer videos on Discover Nikkei:

The 21st Century Museum: Significant artifacts selected by Japanese American National Museum Volunteers
http://5dn.org/janm-vols

Volunteers featured so far: Bob Uragami, Babe Karasawa, Yae Aihara, Richard Murakami, Yoko Horimoto, Jim Tanaka, Tohru Isobe, Mas Yamashita, Robert Moriguchi, Kathryn Madara, Kent Hori, May Porter, Eileen Sakamoto, Lee Hayashi, and Roy Sakamoto.

Here are the three most recently uploaded videos:


Amy & Penelope Hill

Amy Hill’s “LOST AND FOUND, Life as I (K)NEW It” at JANM this weekend!

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Amy Hill will be at the museum this weekend for 3 performances of her show, “LOST AND FOUND, Life as I (K)NEW It.”

Amy & Penelope HillOctober 1 @ 7 pm
October 2 @ 2 pm & 7 pm

Amy Hill explores how her life has evolved since her daughter became a part of her family. She talks about adoption, single motherhood, multiracial/transracial identity mash-ups and her continuing struggles to figure it all out in a humorous and honest way. Far from her days of flying solo, she has moved into a not so solo world: her daughter may or may not make an appearance.

Read our interview with Amy about the show:

Lost and Found: Amy Hill on Adoption and Identity
By Mia Nakaji Monnier

Watch a teaser of the show:

 

Purchase tickets >>

$15 Members, Students, Groups (10+), Seniors
$20 non-members

*Special: $5 families who have adopted. For discount rates, email Koji Steven Sakai at ksakai@janm.org for password!