Congratulations to Clyde on his recent election to President of the Los Angeles Local SAG/AFTRA Chapter! (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, doncha know.)
Clyde was in Farewell to Manzanar and is thereby on my radar forever! He played Akemi Kikumura Yano’s husband in the film, which is of course, available from the Museum Store!
One of our upcoming exhibitions, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, takes a sweeping look at how Asian Pacific Americans have shaped and been shaped by the course of our nation’s history through 30 banners of poignant text, photographs, and art.
To put a personal touch from JANM on the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, we chose to complement the banners with some items from the Museum’s extensive collections. Since we have over 60,000 unique artifacts, documents, and photos in our permanent collection, it was a tough choice!
As a summer intern, I was given the (amazing!) opportunity to select these artifacts. There were several qualifiers—the artifacts would have to be both relevant to its banner’s content and interesting, whether visually or content-wise. My first step was to read through the exhibition text to get a better sense of the exhibition as a whole, then to list them out along with a brief summary and relevant information (keywords, dates, people, etc.—anything that might help narrow down artifacts). I sent the document to our Collections Associate, who searched the collections database and returned a pretty extensive list of potential artifacts. From there, it was a matter of selecting one or two for each banner and then pulling them to take a look. We also collaborated with the Riverside Metropolitan Museum to loan a few items from their historic Chinatown collections.
I don’t want to give away too much (you’ll have to come to the show to see all of the artifacts), but you’ll be able to see a really striking article written in the 1940s by the chairman of the California Joint Immigration Committee. The article, after being submitted to a national magazine, was passed around by the Japanese American Citizens League’s Equality Committee as a reminder of the challenges faced.
What I find interesting about the article is the blatantly offensive language—featuring lines such as “Because of their unassimilability and the impossibility of competing with them due to their low standards of living, Japanese immigrants have never really been welcome in the United States.” Of course I was previously aware of such anti-Japanese sentiment (how could I not, after touring Common Ground: The Heart of Community), but seeing it literally spelled out for me made an abstract concept truly hit home.
See this artifact and more in I Want the Wide American Earth from September 14 ‐ October 27, 2013! Check the exhibition page for more details.
If you’re in the New York area, the New York Mets will be having their 4th Annual Japanese Heritage Night on Wednesday, August 28. The Mets will be playing the Philadelphia Phillies.
There will be a special Japanese Heritage Night pre-game show that begins at 6:30pm featuring the Japanese Folk Dance Institute, the Japanese Men’s Choir, taiko and fue master Kaoru Watanabe, and Spirit Award presentations to important members of our community.
Look for fun Japanese activities and games throughout the evening at the special Japanese Heritage Night tables!
A portion of the proceeds of all ticket sales made through the special JHN ticket window at mets.com/japan will be given to the Japanese-American Association’s, JAA Committee on Aging Issues which is an umbrella organization comprised of various New York City area institutions and health care professionals that are involved in caring for senior citizens in the Japanese and Japanese-American Community.
Buy tickets for seating in one the specially designated Japanese Heritage Night sections available at mets.com/japan.
Seats in three price categories will be grouped together:
• Baseline Box Silver $63
• Pepsi Porch $37
• Promenade Reserved $23
Blocks of seats must be purchased in the same transaction. Organizations that sell more than 25 tickets can have their name displayed on the Mets scoreboard.
Visit the Facebook page at: Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field 2013 for updates and images from past JHN events.
The Japanese American National Museum is pleased to support this event as a Participating Organization. JANM President/CEO Greg Kimura will be attending, so if you see him, say “Hi!”
Wow! We had such an incredible time at this year’s Natsumatsuri Family Festival on August 10, 2013. Nearly 4,000 guests came to enjoy a day full of cultural performances, demonstrations, activities, and crafts. A big thank you to everyone who made it out (and extra kudos to those who came from as far away as Bakersfield and Frazier Park—that’s a whole lot of driving!).
Take a look through this event recap and see if you can spot yourself!
This year, we added a few new perks to thank our Members and Courtyard Kids. Museum members were able to use special “fast pass” lines for some of our most popular activities, including the yukata dress-up and the screenprinted tote bags. Members also got prime seats at our Aratani Central Hall performances and demonstrations. To all of our members who came out for Natsumatsuri, thanks again for your support!
Speaking of Central Hall events, we had a day jam-packed with great performances! Roger del Norte and Lupita Infante stole the show with a Japanese-Spanish mariachi duet, accompanied by the band MEXICAPAN. It was standing room only for Roger and Lupita, and the crowds didn’t let up for the L.A. Matsuri Taiko performance that finished up the day.
Long before that, we kicked the day off with a visit from the Nikkei courts of San Francisco, Honolulu, and Seattle. The queens and princesses came by for a meet n’ greet with JANM President/CEO G.W. Kimura, followed by a tour of our Common Ground: The Heart of Community exhibition from our knowledgeable docents.
As you probably noticed, this year’s Natsumatsuri was all about celebrating summer with some old and new traditions! From learning to play taiko drums with volunteer Hal Keimi to listening to Rev. Bill Briones of Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple explain the history of Obon in both Japan and the United States, we went back to the roots of traditional Japanese festivals. (The wacky paper hats craft is a much-loved tradition of our own!)
We’re big believers in interactive activities fun at JANM. This year, we invited visitors to make self-portraits and fans upstairs, while we once again hosted the “What Are You?” photo activity and omikuji fortunetelling downstairs. Traditional Obon dancing lessons and airbrush tattoos were also big hits.
What was your favorite part of the day? See below for more photos!
Thanks to our wonderful volunteer photographers for documenting the day: Russell Kitagawa, Nobuyuki Okada, Richard Watanabe, Tsuneo Takasugi, Shoji Tokumasa, Richard Murakami, June Aoki, Caroline Jung, and Daryl Kobayashi.
Interested in an afternoon spent learning with a fantastic Los Angeles contemporary artist? Join us on Saturday, August 24, at 2:00pm (free with Museum admission) to see the world of Shizu Saldamando through her own eyes with an artist talk and portrait workshop. Shizu is known for her unique portraits that draw inspiration from her Asian and Mexican heritage.
During the talk, Shizu will discuss her series Stay Gold, currently hanging as part of the Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter exhibition on view at JANM through September 22, 2013. Her drawings and paintings begin as snapshots taken with a cheap point-and-shoot and are then stripped of context and redrawn. Through portraits of her often-unsuspecting friends—taken at parties and informal gatherings—Shizu gives the viewer an insider’s glimpse into a youthful world of freedom and shifting, malleable identity.
In addition to her contribution to Portraiture Now, Shizu has recently worked on Art Intersections: Asian-Latino Pop-Up Museum, hosted by the Smithsonian in downtown Silver Springs, MD. As a curator for the second day of the pop-up—working alongside Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot (another familiar face at JANM)—Shizu projected artwork representing the Asian-Latino connection onto public surfaces.
Learn more about Shizu in this KCET article and video.
A big thank you to everyone who came to Seattle for the 2013 National Conference over the 4th of July weekend! We had a great time and learned a ton, and we hoped you did too.
One big hit from the Conference was the tour of Bainbridge Island. The first generation of Japanese Americans came to the island in 1883 and settled down, opening businesses (including the Suyematsu farm, the oldest continually working farm on the island) and starting families. They remained on Bainbridge until the Japanese American forced removal and incarceration during World War II. In 1942, Bainbridge residents were among the first to be taken to the concentration camps. Today, the island is the home of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, which opened in 2011.
Read more about one Japanese American family’s history on Bainbridge Island in Wayne Nakata’s Discover Nikkei article, Honoring my Issei and Nisei Ancestors. Nakata shared his story at the tour’s Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School luncheon.
Here are some photos from the bus tour of five key Island landmarks—the Exclusion Memorial, Bainbridge Gardens, Suyematsu Farm, Woodward Middle School, and Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School. Find more photos on our Facebook page.
See if you can spot yourself or a friend!
Photos by: Tracy Kumono, Bob Moriguchi, June Aoki, Midori Uyeda & Richard Murakami
Gift of Norman Y. Mineta, Japanese American National Museum (96.370.16A)
There is a lot happening at JANM today, but we first wanted to take some time to remember that August 10, 1988 is the day that President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. This Act offered an apology and granted redress and reparations to the over 110,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated during World War II.
The signing of the Civil Liberties Act was the result of a lot of hard work from many, many individuals and groups around the nation. The government’s formal acknowledgement of the unjust incarceration remains a major milestone in the history of not just the Japanese American community, but within the history of the United States.
To reflect upon this event, last month JANM hosted a national conference in Seattle themed, Speaking Up! Democracy, Justice, Dignity. A modified version of one of the panel sessions that took place in Seattle will also be happening today in Little Tokyo! If you have a chance, please drop by the DISKovery Center this afternoon to see selected video clips related to the Civil Liberties Act, including the powerful testimonials from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Interment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings that took place in Los Angeles. These free screenings are being put together by Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and a full schedule is available here.
Hope that you’re able to take a moment today to reflect on the Civil Liberties Act and the impact that it (and World War II) had on the lives of so many. And thank you to all of those who—in ways big and small—worked to ensure that the United States is taking steps to becoming “a more perfect union.”
P.S. We are slowly making our way through the many photos from the conference and will be sharing more online soon!
When is the last time that you stopped by for lunch or a little afternoon pick-me-up in the Chado Tea Room? Dubbed “Best Museum Café” by Los Angeles Magazine (August 2013), Chado is a hidden gem here at JANM. Los Angeles Magazine recommends the smoked-tea egg salad and the warm scones, but you can’t go wrong with the Waldorf or St. Pierre salads. At just $8 – $11 for a salad, you can’t find a better place for a bit of elegance and civility in the middle of your day.
Perhaps you haven’t been here since your friend’s shower or birthday party? If it was outside on the garden patio and your group shared freshly brewed tea (there’s 300 varieties from which to choose), cakes, and tea sandwiches, then it was sure to have been an afternoon to remember.
Come drop by Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. for that light lunch or perfect cup of tea. Couple it with a long or quick visit to JANM and nourish both your body and soul. If you’re a current member, make sure to show your JANM membership card for a 10% discount!
If you are looking to make a day of it and immerse yourself in tea culture, be sure to attend the upcoming Los Angeles International Tea Festival (September 28-29, 2013) held here at JANM and organized by Chado. Exhibitors will offer tastings, talks, shows, and ceremonies. Tickets are on sale ($15) at teafestivalla.com, with proceeds benefiting JANM and its mission.
Come savor the best of LA – at the “Best Museum Café” and at the Japanese American National Museum.
Chado Downtown
Inside the Terasaki Garden Café at the Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hours: 11:00am – 6:00 pm, Tuesday – Sunday
For Catering, Afternoon Tea or Party Reservations,
Please Call: (213) 258-2531
www.chadotea.com
Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012
Hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tuesday – Sunday
Phone: (213) 625-0414
www.janm.org
We loved having local Girl Scouts come out again for our second annual Girl Scout Patch Program! This year’s program was all about identity, both on the individual and community level. We began the day with a tour of our exhibition Visible & Invisible: A Hapa Japanese American History (closing August 25th!). Lead by our School Programs Developer Lynn Yamasaki, the tour touched on the history of—and challenges faced by—mixed-race and mixed-roots Japanese Americans.
The tour was followed by a great discussion of some of the exhibition themes, like what it means to be Japanese in a rapidly evolving community. In the end, being Japanese is about more than pure race, the scouts decided. Instead, Japanese American identity today encompasses widespread cultural elements such as the ability to use chopsticks, a taste for sashimi (admittedly up for debate), and involvement in the community. On a more personal level, the girls discussed the many factors—from geography to heritage—that make up their backgrounds and shape their attitudes and behavior.
After the discussion, we moved on to expressing our identities in a more hands-on way—with the help of some paper doll templates and a vast array of supplies from the education closet! Each girl made a reflection of herself (and one mom joined in with a lovely family portrait), carefully selecting the portrait’s attributes and making each unique, from style of dress to life mottos.
Photos by Richard Murakami
Opening Party
Friday, September 13
6:30PM-10PM
FREE!
Whether you rep the 626, can’t get enough of boba, or just really love Asian Pacific American history, come out to the opening party for I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story!
The opening party will have loads of great entertainment and treats. YouTube comedy and music stars The Fung Brothers and DANakaDAN will be performing live, along with music from DJ Tony. We will also be debuting a new two-person show, Our American Voice. The show, presented in partnership with East West Players, explores diverse stories of Asian Pacific Americans. And if you get peckish between performances, head on over to the Mighty Boba Truck for a delicious drink!
Through a Smithsonian traveling display of 30 banners of poignant text, photographs, and art, I Want the Wide American Earth takes a sweeping look at how Asian Pacific Americans have shaped and been shaped by the course of our nation’s history.
Check out the exhibition page for more info.
(Video from: The Fung Brothers)
Thanks to the Smithsonian and exhibition sponsor W.K. Kellogg Foundation; public programs sponsors: MetLife Foundation, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County Arts Commission; and media sponsors: Angry Asian Man, KSCI-TV LA-18, and The Rafu Shimpo.