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!
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 & MonstersGallery 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!
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
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!
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!
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.
A line of people file into the Museum as soon as the doors open.
Guests enjoy free food and refreshments in the Aratani Central Hall.
Dr. Greg Kimura, JANM President & CEO, welcomes guests to the opening reception.
Gordon Yamate, Chair of the JANM Board of Trustees, enlightens guests with a few opening words.
Dr. Konrad Ng, Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, shares his excitement for the exhibition opening at JANM with hundreds of guests.
Tim Dang, Producing Artistic Director of East West Players, shares a few words about the Museum’s partnership with East West Players in presenting “Our American Voice”
Free and delicious food from Aloha Cafe!
JANM staff & volunteers help Mighty Boba Truck prepare milk tea boba drinks for thirsty guests!
D.J. Tony entertains guests by playing music throughout the evening.
Guests form a large line outside of the gallery to watch the debut of “Our American Voice”.
The stars of “Our American Voice”, Traci Kato-Kiriyama and Johnny Kwon, captivate the audience with their spectacular performances.
This lucky group of guests are the first to experience “Our American Voice”!
YouTube stars, DANakaDAN + CREW LOVE are the first to perform in the Aratani Central Hall.
DANakaDAN + CREW LOVE pump up the crowd with a set of powerful numbers!
The Fung Brothers entertain guests with their comical performances, and catchy songs!
The Fung Brothers wrap up the night with some of their most popular songs, including “Asians Eat Weird Things ft. AJ Rafael”, “Bobalife”, and “626”!
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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 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!
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!
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.
Schools have started and JANM is back in session! Buses pull up each morning, filled with students and teachers coming to learn more about the Japanese American experience.
We are always thinking about ways in which these visitors—most of whom are not of Japanese descent—can better relate to the Japanese American experience. One of the ways we do this is to use the artifacts (the “stuff”) from JANM’s collection as a means to begin conversations about visitors’ diverse, yet intersecting, experiences.
So last Spring, we worked with a group of ninth graders from Los Angeles Unified School District’s King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science to see how artifacts connect to stories of immigration/migration. These students uncovered family histories to learn how their artifacts related to their families’ journeys.
Before coming to JANM for a school visit, students photographed their artifacts and wrote short narratives about journeys to Los Angeles from other states, other countries. The artifacts, like the artifacts in JANM’s collection, are indeed very precious and have some amazing stories to tell!
We hope that the sampling of the essays from the King/Drew students might also get you thinking about your own stories of immigration/migration.
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The students’ essays were created as part of a pilot project between King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Our American Journey Project. OAJ is a multi-year project that will examine international and internal migration centered on what we understand today to be the United States.
We were delighted to receive so many submissions to the “Marvels & Monsters: Unbound” showcase competition, and thank all the talented and imaginative artists and authors who sent us entries.
It was a challenge to pick the ones that were ideal for the showcase, but here they are!
Congratulations to:
Robert Allison, “Overwrite” Mark Brown, “Evil Is a Yellow Face” Carin Chea, “The Jumper” Joey Damiano, “The Audition” Raymond Hui, “X Wings of Defeat” Deanna Myers, “Cute Asian Girl”
and Maritess Zurbano, who submitted two winning entries, whose titles are yet to be determined!
Join JANM’s Young Professionals Network on October 10 for the Showcase, featuring staged readings of all eight winning entries and a Q&A with the winners, moderated by MARVELS & MONSTERS curator Jeff Yang—and get a sneak preview of the MARVELS & MONSTERS exhibition itself.
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Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986
October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014
Through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades, Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians.
Marvels & Monsters Preview Reception
Thursday, October 10, 2013
6 PM – 9:30 PM
Join us for the Showcase, a special preview of the exhibition, and reception to celebrate the opening of the Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 exhibition. Hosted by the JANM Young Professionals Network. To RSVP, contact specialevents@janm.org or 213.625.0414, ext. 2222.
Bring yourself and a friend to the Japanese American National Museum for free! On Saturday, September 28th, JANM will be participating in the Smithsonian Magazine’s “Museum Day Live!” A ticket will provide free admission to one person, plus a guest.
In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day Live! is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket… for free.
The Japanese American National Museum is a proud Smithsonian Affiliate Museum, and excited to be a part of Museum Day Live! When you come on Saturday, check out I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, an exhibition of banners created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, on view through October 27, 2013.
Here are some rules and guidelines to ensure an enjoyable and smooth museum visit:
– Only an official Museum Day Live! ticket is eligible for free entry. Official tickets can be requested through the Museum Day Live! website: www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ticket/
– One ticket per household, for two people.
– A ticket will gain entry to only one of the participating museums, excluding parking and special events and exhibits.
– If the museum reaches capacity, the museum has the right to limit the number of guests until space becomes available.
Acclaimed Japanese American pianist, and winner of the Van Cliburn competition, Jon Nakamatsu will be performing at The Colburn School on Sunday, September 29th at 3:00pm in Zipper Hall.
He will be presenting a program of Haydn’sTrio in E major, Kodaly’sDuo for Violin and Cello, and Mendelssohn’sTrio No.1 in D minor with Colburn’s two newest faculty appointees, and former members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Beaver and Clive Greensmith.
It will be a wonderful night of music. Zipper Hall
200 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Sunday, September 29, 2013 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM (PDT)
NIKKEI+ ~Stories of Mixed Language, Traditions, Generations & Race~
Deadline for submissions: September 30 @6pm (PST)
Do you use chopsticks and forks; mix Japanese words with English or Spanish; or celebrate the New Year’s Eve countdown with champagne and Oshogatsu with ozoni and other Japanese traditions?
There’s just 1 week left to submit stories about being Hapa, growing up in families with mixed generations, or mixing traditions.
All stories that meet the submission guidelines will be published on Discover Nikkei. Our online community’s most favorite stories will be translated into our site languages (English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese) and may even ben published in our partnering Nikkei publications in the US, Canada, and Latin America!
Here are links to a few of the 12 stories published so far. After you’ve read them, “vote” for your favorites to help us select the stories to translate! Just log in to award your favorite stories a “star”.
On Saturday, September 28th the Japanese American National Museum will be presenting a free Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration as part of the 3rd Annual Los Angeles International Tea Festival.
The Japanese tea ceremony is called chanoyu or sado in Japanese. It is a choreographed ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea. Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all of one’s attention into the predefined movements. The whole process is not about drinking tea, but it is about the aesthetics, and preparing a bowl of tea from one’s heart.
This Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration is presented as part of the Tateuchi Public Programs Series, an organized partnership between the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation and the Japanese American National Museum. Tateuchi Public Programs develop presentations that explore the connections between Japan and the United States in the context of politics, art, music, and culture. The programs series aims to enhance understanding between the two countries.
The 3rd Annual Los Angeles International Tea Festival is being presented by the Chado Tea Room at JANM on Saturday & Sunday, September 28-29, 2013. The Tea Festival is an educational and entertaining event about the multifaceted world of tea that will bring together authors, industry experts, buyers, retailers, artists, educators, and tea-lovers from across the country. It will give you the opportunity to sample some of the world’s finest and most varied flavors of teas, attend presentations by leading tea authors and industry experts, and meet premier tea and tea-ware suppliers all at one place!
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn new facts and expand your enjoyment of this fascinating beverage!
For more information and to purchase tickets for the Los Angeles International Tea Festival, please visit www.teafestivalla.com.
Check out photos from a previous tea ceremony demonstration held at JANM. Click on the photos to see the full images.
Photo Credits: Amjadkhan Pathan
Stay updated on all of the museum’s events, including the tea ceremony by visiting www.janm.org/events.
Marvels & Monsters opening next week!
