Category: Events

Target FREE Family Saturday: Aloha from Hawaii with KoAloha Ukulele on February 8

Vicky Murakami-Tsuda 1 Comment

KAERU_ALOHA2014

KoAloha Ukulele is coming from Hawaii on Saturday, February 8 to lead performances, workshops, crafts, and all things ukulele at our next Target Free Family Saturday. It’s FREE all day!

Bring your own ukulele to learn basic and intermediate ukulele with Brian Benevente of KoAloha Ukulele and other KoAloha artist partners (11:15am/12:15pm/1:15pm/2:15pm). The little ones will enjoy strum-along and sing-along workshops with George “Gibi” del Barrio as “Abba Geebz” (Grandpa Geebz) at 11:30am, 12:45pm, and 1:45pm. If you don’t have your own ukulele, Anacapa Ukulele will be on-site selling instruments!

There will be solo performances by spectacular ukulele performers Tj Mayeshiro, Jason Arimoto, and Ryo Montgomery at 11:30am, 1pm, and 2:30pm. Plus an All-Star jam finale at 3:30pm with all three performers.

Plus, screenings of award-winning films: My KoAloha Story at 11:30am and The Haumana at 1:30pm; make your own candy leis; send an aloha to someone special by making a valentine with a bit of a Hawaiian touch; and fold an origami Hawaiian canoe.

For complete schedule, visit janm.org/target.

Video of TJ Mayeshiro and Ryo Montgomery performing in Korea:

 

Video of Jason Arimoto performing “Kaze Blues,” an original blues ukulele song about the Japanese picture bride experience in Hawaii in the early 1900s:

Target Free Family Saturday: Ukulele fun & Valentine crafts!

Lynn Yamasaki Leave a comment

Feb target crafts

Aloha! Are you ready? It’s the first Target Free Family Saturday of 2014 and we are excited to see you!!

On Saturday, January 8th from 11am – 4pm, we’ll be celebrating Hawaii with KoAloha Ukulele, who will be leading performances, workshops, crafts, and all things ukulele…and it’s all FREE! (If you have an ukulele, be sure to bring it to join in the fun.)

A full schedule for the day can be found here.

Not only is Hawaii on our minds, but, we’re also thinking about Valentine’s Day which is right around the corner. All kids can come and think sweet thoughts as they construct a candy lei. We will also have a variety of supplies available for you to make Valentine cards. It’s going to be a fun one so we hope you can join us!

 

 

It’s a National Youth Summit webcast! Join us!

Lynn Yamasaki Leave a comment

We are so excited about our upcoming participation in a National Youth Summit with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and 10 other Smithsonian Affiliate organizations across the country.

On February 5, 2014 students from around the country will participate in a live webcast originating from The Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. The program will reflect on the 1964 youth-led effort for voting rights and education known as Freedom Summer and will include a panel of activists, experts, and scholars.

Tamio Wakayama Photo: Tracy Kumono
Tamio Wakayama
Photo: Tracy Kumono

Following the webcast, JANM will have our own on-site program. Tamio Wakayama, a Nisei Japanese Canadian who joined the American Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), will share his experiences and the documentary photographs that he took from 1963 to 1964.

Now, here’s the great part: all youth and educators are invited to participate from their classrooms through the magic of the web! Teachers… this means you! Just take a look at this fantastic site for the program.

The Smithsonian has provided teaching resources and other tools for you and your students. You can pre-register and join in the conversation along with us and view the program streaming live from the Old Capitol Museum.

Register online now >>

 

2014 Oshogatsu Family Festival Highlights!

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Horses

On Sunday, January 5th, JANM rang in the New Year and the Year of the Horse with fun arts ‘n crafts, food, exciting cultural activities, and performances!

Oshogatsu Family Festival is one of JANM’s biggest events of the year, and we were glad to see so many guests come to join in on the fun. From folding a prancing horse origami, to jumping around in a horse bounce house, all of the activities celebrated the New Year and the Year of the Horse.

Thank you to all the JANM staff, volunteers, and friends who helped out at Oshogatsu Family Festival, and of course, thank you to all the guests for helping JANM kick off the New Year with a fun and exciting day!

Check out these photos from the 2014 Oshogatsu Family Festival (click on the thumbnails to see the full pictures):

 

Photo Credits: Richard Murakami, Caroline Jung, Russell Kitagawa, Richard Watanabe, and Tsuneo Takasugi

Check out more photos on our JANM Facebook page >>

*****

Don’t miss our next Target Free Family Saturdays: Aloha from Hawaii with KoAloha Ukulele on Saturday, February 8th from 11AM to 4PM. It’s FREE all day! Visit www.janm.org/target for more information.

Awkward ‘n’ Awesome Rock ‘n’ Roll Movie THE CRUMBLES screening at JANM on Sat Jan 25!

Akira Boch Leave a comment

crumbles still

THE CRUMBLES is an indie rock slice-of-life tragicomedy about Darla and Elisa, two young women struggling to catapult their talented but directionless garage band to stardom. Called “elegant and affectionate” by the LA Times, this lighthearted romp across the east side of Los Angeles offers a fun and realistic portrait of what it’s like to be in a fledgling band. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2012 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Directed by Akira Boch and featuring music by Grammy winner Quetzal Flores.

Cast and Crew will be in attendance.

This is a FREE EVENT!

When: SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 @ 7pm

Where: Tateuchi Democracy Forum
Japanese American National Museum
111 N. Central Ave., LA, CA 90012

Sponsored by the Japanese American National Museum

FREE BEER reception to follow, sponsored by Lagunitas Brewing Company

Afterparty at Wolf & Crane in Little Tokyo starts at 10pm

More info: thecrumbles.com

Check out The Crumbles on Facebook

The Crumbles @ JANM Sat. Jan 25

A/P/A Institute at NYU & JANM celebrate the publication of Franklin Odo’s “Voices from the Canefields”

cchurch Leave a comment

FranklinOdo-VoicesfromtheCaneFieldsThrough the poetic lyrics of over 200 holehole bushi (Japanese folksongs), Franklin Odo (Founding Director, Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific American Program) traces the experiences of Japanese immigrant plantation sugar workers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in his new book Voices from the Canefields: Folksongs from Japanese Immigrant Workers in Hawai‘i.

Wednesday, January 22 will be a night of celebration as we join NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute in marking the publication of Dr. Odo’s latest book with a selection of readings, song, and film.

Where: A/P/A Institute at NYU  This event takes place in New York City.

When: January 22, 2014, 6:30 PM

RSVP by Monday, January 20

RSVP + Details

Co-sponsored by the Japanese American Association of New York, Japanese American National Museum, and Hālāwai.

Read JANM’s October 2013 interview with Dr. Franklin Odo on Discover Nikkei >>

Perks of being a JANM member: 2014 Oshogatsu Edition

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Kodama Taiko Mochitsuki 7

JANM’s annual Oshogatsu Family Festival tomorrow is free and open to the public, however, JANM would like to show our members how special they are to us. From a gourmet food tasting to Member Express Lanes, JANM members will receive special perks this Sunday at the festival.

2013's Onigiri Design Contest WinnerFrom 12pm to 2pm Common Grains is sponsoring an Onigiri Design Contest where guests can learn how to make onigiri rice balls and enter the design contest. For this event JANM members can enter a Member Express Lane, to skip a longer wait in line.

This year JANM will have free pony rides for children in celebration of the Year of the Horse from 1pm to 5pm, and members can get in a Member Express Lane.

_DSC0098In addition to member express lanes JANM members will receive special perks throughout the day. From 1pm to 2pm there will be a gourmet osechi-ryori tasting for members only, where JANM members can sample traditional Japanese New Year foods.

Candy Sculptures - AudienceFrom 12pm to 5pm world-renowned candy artist Shan Ichiyanagi will make his specialty horse candy sculptures where JANM members can double their chances in a raffle for a candy sculpture after completing an Oshogatsu event survey.

Kodama Taiko Mochitsuki 6There will also be Member Reserved Seating for the 2:30pm and 4pm Kodama Taiko demonstrations of mochitsuki, a traditional rice cake pounding ceremony where free samples of mochi will be given out.

 

The Oshogatsu Family Festival will take place on Sunday, January 5th at the Japanese American National Museum from 11am to 5pm. For a full itinerary and for more information, please visit janm.org/oshogatsufest2014

Support the Museum and enjoy many perks as a JANM member, join/renew now! There will be a Membership table at Oshogatsu Family Festival, or click here for details or to join online >> 

Candy Sculptures with Shan Ichiyanagi

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Candy Sculpture by Shan Ichiyanagi - Horse

Candy Sculpting is an ancient Asian folk art that originated in China and has been known in Japan for over 1,000 years. As a dying art, only a few performers exist in the world today.

Utilizing old Japanese scissors, Shan Ichiyanagi, a world-renowned candy artist, can magically transform a block of molten corn syrup into a beautiful sculpture of almost any shape and size, in just 4-5 minutes!

Visit Oshogatsu Family Festival on Sunday, January 5th to watch Shan Ichiyanagi make his amazing candy sculptures from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Shan Ichiyanagi making a candy sculpture at the Japanese American National Museum in January 2013

In celebration of the festival’s theme, “Year of the Horse”, Shan Ichiyanagi will make his special horse candy sculptures. The candies will be for children only and will be raffled off throughout the day.

The festival will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The day will be filled with fun arts & crafts, food, exciting cultural activities, and more! For more information, please visit: janm.org/oshogatsufest2014

Be sure to check our blog for more posts on specific activities scheduled for Oshogatsu Family Festival!

Read our interview with Shan Ichiyanagi on our Discover Nikkei website:

Shinobu Ichiyanagi – Master of Candy Crafts “Amezaiku” Artist who Captured American Heart with Traditional Japanese Performing Art
By Keiko Fukuda (English & Japanese)

 

Photo Credits: Shan Ichiyanagi and Daryl Kobayashi.

December Target Free Family Saturday Highlights

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Picture Frames

JANM’s Winter Wonderland-themed Target Free Family Saturdays event on December 14, was jam-packed with holiday activities!

From taking pictures with Asian American Santa, decorating picture frames, making a cereal snack, taking a ride on a horse-drawn carriage, and enjoying a kamishibai winter-time story, our guests were able to get into the holiday spirit!

Check out these photos from December’s Target Free Family Saturday (click on the photos to see them larger):

 

Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts is on view at JANM through March 2, 2014. For more details about the exhibition, visit: janm.org/goforbroke

If you like food, cultural activities, and entertainment, mark your calendar for JANM’s annual Oshogatsu Family Festival, coming up on Sunday, January 5, 2014 from 11AM – 5PM! It’s FREE ALL DAY!

Our next Target Free Family Saturdays event will be on be on February 8, 2014 from 11AM – 4PM. You won’t want to miss a day of making music with KoAloha Ukulele as they lead performances, workshops, crafts, and all things ukulele! For details, visit: janm.org/target

Photo Credits: Tsuneo Takasugi, Caroline Jung, and Esther Shin.

Highlights from the Go For Broke Member’s Preview

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Gallery 1 On November 10, 2013, JANM held a Members Preview Reception for the exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts.

The exhibition chronicles the history of Japanese American Nisei soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service who served during World War II to prove their loyalty to the nation that had disowned them.

Aratani Central Hall 2The Aratani Central Hall was packed for the reception and program with enthusiastic members and special guests. This preview included an informal gallery walkthrough given by curator, Eric Saul.

The program started with America the Beautiful performed by Keiko Kawashima; a welcome by Helen H. Ota, External Relations Officer at JANM; and a special keynote by Eric Saul.

It was a very intimate exhibition preview—it allowed guests to reflect on history, and to appreciate the efforts of Japanese American Nisei veterans before, during and even after World War II.

Check out these photos from the member’s preview!

Photo Credits: Tsuneo Takasugi, Richard Murakami, and Richard Watanabe. 

Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts is on view at JANM through March 2, 2014. For more details, visit: janm.org/goforbroke