Drawing From Memory

Just one more reminder about the Allen Say event this weekend. Don’t want any fans to miss the opportunity to see some original artwork and to hear Allen speak about this special book. There’s also a great review (one of the many this book has received) on this web site. You have to go to “D” and search for the title Drawing From Memory to access the review.

This is my favorite photo from the book. Sensei Noro Shinpei looks like a cowboy even though he’s wearing a kimono. You can sense the excitement and promise in the wistful young Allen.

Purchase the book from the Museum Store Online >>

Thank you higashi glaser!


Our third auction ended on Sunday and the Labbit by higashi glaser closed at $760.00! The winner was actually a last minute bidder. Most of the bidding was between two people and was hot and heavy. It was a huge surprise ending, the kind that can only happen on eBay!

All of the proceeds from the auction have been donated to the Museum, so thank you to the artists and the new owner of this beautiful piece.

I am going to miss “Stumped” and all of the Labbits as they go to their new homes this week.

Stay tuned for Stan Sakai’s auction coming up on October 1. It should be a cliff-hanger!

New Beginnings

After another summer spent in California, I’m back in the lovely city of Kalamazoo, Michigan for another studious school year. However, this summer was not just “another summer spent in California”. This summer I had the pleasure and privilege of spending ten weeks as the curatorial intern at the Japanese American National Museum.

I am one who is very familiar with a ten-week timeframe. Attending a college that is on the quarter system, I live for the never-long-enough-but-much-needed break that follows the completion of another quarter of the school year. However, after finishing my first year at school and yearning for the summer, little did I know, I was in for another set of ten weeks interning at the Japanese American National Museum that would be unlike any quarter I could ever have imagined.

Like each quarter at school, the ten weeks I spent at the museum flew by in the blink of an eye. It feels like only a week ago that I first met one of my fellow interns, Yuiko, on the front steps of the museum as we exchanged confused glances and comments on how we were supposed to actually get inside the museum to be on time to our first day of work, or when we first met all the volunteers and were met with kind smiles and all the food our hearts could desire.

I have learned so much during my ten week journey at the Museum, having been involved in researching in permanent collections, conducting oral histories, reviewing collections offers, and assisting with public programs. I feel I can now proudly say that I am definitely more savvy into the workings of a museum than when I first stepped foot into my position ten weeks ago. However, one of the many things I am taking away from my journey at the museum is the importance of knowing one’s roots, knowing your history, knowing where you came from and how you got where you are today. When I first began this internship I was posed this question by one of my supervisors, Lisa: “So what’s your family story?” A little caught off guard, I stumbled to come up with a very brief synopsis of what I knew about my family, which pretty much can be summed up with both my grandparents and parents having immigrated to the United States from Korea in the 1970s and a vague bit of my grandfathers having fought in the Korean War. I realized I actually didn’t know that much about where my family came from or how I got here. Having grown up all my life speaking English to my parents, eating more lasagna and tamales than bibimbap, and speaking semi-fluent German but toddler-like Korean, I realized I really never was truly in touch with my Asian American roots, for various reasons, including plainly, the fact that I had never made the effort to be. However, that has changed over the course of the past ten weeks. The majority of my internship has been spent doing research in collections and learning the multitude of amazing stories that people have. Prior to beginning here, I knew very little of Japanese American history. I knew what I had been taught in my history textbooks, which was nothing near sufficient. Throughout this experience I have learned that the Japanese American experience wasn’t as simple as war, camp, and redress, nor did everyone share the same story. Through the research I have done, the stories I have heard from people that I have interviewed, the books I have read, and the amazing people I have interacted with, I have been educated in ways that no textbook could ever do justice. Everyone has an amazing story that deserves to be preserved and shared with others, there is no basic outline that one can follow when it comes to history. The things I have learned have caused me to have a newfound curiosity for my family’s own beginnings and journey. Everyone has their own amazing story, but these stories can so easily be lost if they remains solely in the memories and minds of those who lived them.

Over the course of the months I spent at the museum I met many amazing people, learned many things, from how to find my way through the many cabinets, drawers, and folders in Collections to how to¬¬¬ conduct oral histories, and most certainly, bonded the JANM way over plates and plates of food. As this California girl prepares to settle back into the Midwest for another year at school, I am proud to say that I feel I am going back a little older, wiser, and with a summer full of fond memories spent at the Museum. As the final 2011 Getty intern to say her farewell on this blog, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made my summer one for the books!

Much love,
Alexa
2011 Getty Curatorial Intern

2011-2012 Museum Store Catalog is coming your way!

I just uploaded the new catalog items to our web store. The catalogs went to the post office yesterday and should be arriving at your homes soon.

Just an FYI, there are a few items whose arrival will be later in the season. Look for our big launch of the “Farewell to Manzanar” DVD in October. There is a long story about how this film is finally being made available for sale after 35 years. You will be hearing more about this historic event soon.

Some of our items are coming from far-off lands like France and Japan. And one new item is a special Museum product (you will see it on the cover!) which is making its way on a boat from China. But click on the new catalog cover on the janmstore.com homepage and start making your wish lists for the holidays!

We hope you enjoy the selections we’ve sourced for you this year. And remember to shop, share and support us through the store!

Check out the 2011-12 Museum Store Catalog online >>

9066 to 911 DVD

9066 to 9/11 — JANM-Produced Film Available on Comcast!

In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the JANM-produced film “FROM 9066 TO 9/11” is available in Comcast’s cable VOD service, Cinema Asian America for the month of September.

About the film:

After the attacks of September 11, there was an instant public backlash against Arab Americans and Muslims.  Anyone who looked like the “enemy” became suspect.  The same thing happened to Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the parallels were obvious.  Unfortunately, the backlash against Japanese Americans during World War II resulted in the mass incarceration of 120,000 innocent people.  It became the mission of many Japanese American individuals and community groups, including the Japanese American National Museum, to use our community’s history in order to protect the rights of our Arab American and Muslim brothers and sisters. As we all know, if we forget our history, we may find ourselves repeating it.

Features interviews with: Yuri Kochiyama, Rev. Art Takemoto, Jerry Kang, Dr. Art Hansen, Linda Sherif, Ban Al-Wardi, Tajuddin Shuaib, and Evelyn Yoshimura.

About the VOD service, Cinema Asian America:

Cinema Asian America is a ground-breaking new video-on-demand offering, which features Asian American films and videos in a monthly, thematically-programmed format.

For the first time, millions of viewers across the nation are able to watch a curated series of Asian American and Asian films, which will collect together award-winning films fresh from the film festival circuit and classics which beg to be revisited.

From September 1, 2011 – September 31, 2011, “FROM 9066 TO 9/11” will be available to all Comcast digital cable subscribers with On-Demand.  It is available for $0.99/view.

9066 to 911 DVD

To watch:

Through your digital cable menu, click on the “On Demand” button, and then look under the “Movies” folder. In this will be a “Movie Collections” folder and inside of this viewers will find “Cinema Asian America” and will be able to access “FROM 9066 to 9/11.”

Thank you, and please help spread the word!

p.s. For those who don’t have Comcast but are interested in watching the film, it’s available on DVD from the Museum Store.

Discover Nikkei -Taiko Groups

Discover Nikkei Taiko Database returns!

In 2005, we opened the Big Drum: Taiko in the United States exhibition. It was the first exhibition since my joining the Web unit at JANM where we really developed a lot of cool resources online in conjunction with an exhibit. I had the opportunity to work with curator Sojin Kim, our web technologist Geoff Jost, and volunteer writers to develop & upload a lot of great historic and contemporary photosactivities, and articles on the exhibition site.

I also worked with Discover Nikkei coordinator Yoko Nishimura and staff at our Watase Media Arts Center to add many wonderful video interview clips on our Discover Nikkei website.

The other major component we developed was a database of taiko groups in the U.S., but also included some other groups outside of Japan. We set up the database using some basic info collected for the exhibition. Then, we contacted all of the groups and invited them to log in and update/add to their group info, and upload some photos & audio clips.

Although most never logged in, there were quite a few groups that did participate. The most notable was San Jose Taiko who added extensive information about their group’s history. Others included Portland Taiko, Fubuki Taiko, Somei Yoshino Taiko, and University of Tasmania Taiko Society.

It was always so interesting to look at what groups had added information because it showed the growth and popularity of taiko. There were groups all over the U.S. (even in places where there aren’t many Japanese Americans), and many in Canada, and even in Europe (there are 4 groups listed in Belgium)!

After the initial activity during the exhibition run, not many of the groups updated their info. When the redesigned Discover Nikkei site went live in July 2009, we launched it without the Taiko Database, always intending to add it back in once we had some time to work on it.

It’s been 2 years, but I’m really excited that we recently launched our new & improved Taiko Groups section! It has the old database info, photos, and audio clips, but presented in a new layout with easier accessibility, and incorporates events posted by the groups onto their taiko group pages.

San Jose Taiko has already started updating their info and we hope that other groups will join them soon.

Check out the new & improved Taiko Groups >>

P.S. If you are with or know of any taiko groups, please encourage them to update their pages! It’s a great & free way to share your group’s contact info, general info, history, photos, audio clips, videos, and upcoming events!

If you need help with your group’s login info, or if your group is not already listed and you’d like to be added, contact editor@discovernikkei.org.

Discover Nikkei -Taiko Groups

LESSONS FROM AMERICA’S PAST IMPORTANT TO RECALL WITH 9/11 ANNIVERSARY

By Norman Y. Mineta and Gordon Yamate

 Ten years ago, the United States was shaken by the September 11th terrorist attacks upon New York City and Washington, D.C. In the immediate aftermath, the Japanese American National Museum contemplated its role in response to these unthinkable events. Clearly, more than our country’s national security was under attack. Our way of life as a democratic, open society was being challenged.

 The Japanese American National Museum recognized the historic parallels between 2001 and 1941 when World War II erupted. In 1942, the United States Government implemented Executive Order 9066, violating the constitutional rights of Americans of Japanese ancestry by forcibly removing them from their homes and incarcerating more than 120,000 of them in detention camps without charge and without trial. That U.S. citizens and legal residents might be victimized because of their race or religion 60 years later was on the minds of all who were familiar with the Japanese American World War II experience.

To read the entire piece, go to:

http://www.janm.org/press/release/298/

Farewell from Akemi Kikumura Yano

After more than three years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese American National Museum, I have reached my last day in that position with a sense of gratitude and pride. Over the years, I have witnessed the Museum’s remarkable growth and maturity and I am confident that I am leaving it in good hands with a strong foundation.

My feeling of gratitude extends to all of the Museum’s supporters, volunteers, staff and leadership, who have built that foundation over the last quarter of a century. As the Board of Trustees continues the process to select a new CEO, I feel strongly that the Museum will not miss a beat since the Trustees appointed Nancy Araki, Director of Community Affairs, and Miyoko Oshima, Chief Operating Officer, as interim co-Executive Directors. Soon, a new head of the Museum will be chosen and a new era will begin, one that I feel holds enormous promise and possibilities.

For me personally, there are many projects that I have yearned to pursue for some time, but could not because of the demands of my former position. Most of these ideas were formed during my years as a curator and a program director at the Museum, and I feel the time to bring them to fruition is now. As such, I begin my own new era today.

I have been honored to serve the Japanese American National Museum in different capacities and to work together with a host of talented and dedicated individuals. While I am moving on to other things, there will always be a part of me here at the Japanese American National Museum.

Sincerely,

AKEMI KIKUMURA YANO
President & CEO

For more information, go to:
www.janm.org/press/release/297/