Category: News & Announcements

Article about JANM Volunteers – Henry & Helen Yasuda

Vicky Murakami-Tsuda Leave a comment
Henry & Helen Yasuda's wedding photo, 1954
Henry & Helen Yasuda's wedding photo, 1954

Henry & Helen Yasuda are two of the Museum’s very dedicated volunteers. Henry primarily helps with giving tours to visitors from Japan. Helen is a docent for student groups, works with the community outreach committee, and helps out in many other ways. Last year, Helen received our Miki Tanimura Outstanding Volunteer Award, and recently they joined the Museum’s Legacy Society.

They’re also very committed to their family and very active in other community organizations like the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo, the Yamaguchi Kenjinkai, and the Nikkei Parents’ Day Coalition.

We recently asked volunteer Esther Newman to interview them for our Discover Nikkei website: Henry and Helen Yasuda: Family Values, Nikkei Values

You can also check out more photos of them in the Nikkei Album. The text is in Japanese only, but the album which is about Henry includes some very nice photos of their family:

5 移民を授業する － 日系アメリカ人の記憶から学ぶ: ヘンリー・S・ヤスダ さん

Thanks very much to Henry & Helen for their support of the Museum!

SPECIAL EVENT: Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng

Koji Steven Sakai Leave a comment

Maya Soetoro-Ng

I am super excited that Maya Soetoro-Ng is coming to the Museum next week (April 20 at 1 pm) to read from her new children’s book “Ladder to the Moon.” For those of you who don’t know, Mrs. Soetoro-Ng is an educator, but is also President Obama’s sister.

Mrs. Soetoro-Ng was at the museum almost a year ago. She spoke with artist/educator/Hapa activist Kip Fulbeck and actor Amy Hill. Here is an article one of our interns wrote about Maya and her visit to JANM.

Here is a brief description of the book:

Ladder to the Moon

Little Suhaila wishes she could have known her grandma, who would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could, Mama says. And one night, Suhaila gets her wish when a golden ladder appears at her window, and Grandma Annie invites the girl to come along with her on a magical journey.

In a rich and deeply personal narrative, Maya Soetoro-Ng draws inspiration from her mother’s love for family, her empathy for others, and her ethic of service to imagine this remarkable meeting.

Hope to see you there!

For more information about the program, click here.

The Museum store will be selling the book and Ms. Soetoro-Ng will be signing the books after the program.

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Koji Steven Sakai
Public Programs Manager

Welcome to the new JANM blog!

Akemi Kikumura Yano Leave a comment

Akemi Kikumura YanoWelcome to First & Central, our new official blog for the Japanese American National Museum!

Why “First & Central”? For those familiar with our home in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, our campus is located at the intersection of First Street & Central Avenue. But beyond the connection to our physical space, this blog will be the “first” place to go for inside information about what’s going on at the Museum and a “central” place for our community to connect.

Learn more about the Museum—our exhibitions, public programs, collections and resources, media productions, education programs, store products, web projects, and more. You will get a behind-the-scenes introduction to our leadership, staff, and volunteers.

We’re very excited about this new way of sharing the Museum with our many friends and supporters across the country and worldwide. Even more exciting is the opportunity to engage and connect with you as we continue to evolve towards a more participatory museum in the 21st century.

This is a work-in-progress, so we appreciate your feedback as we continue to update this blog with new entries and features!

Akemi Kikumura Yano
President & CEO
Japanese American National Museum