On November 9, 2013, JANM celebrated autumn with many guests at Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn!
The day was filled with free activities such as putting together a festive fall salad, banging on a drum in a drum circle, sitting in on a reading of Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s, decorating a furoshiki (wrapping cloth) for a mini omanju (traditional confection), and much more!
The Go For Broke National Education Center also held an important event at their monument. 11 veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team were reminded of France’s gratitude for their efforts during World War II and received the French Legion of Honor Medal. Words of remembrance and appreciation, followed by the pinning of the Medals were presented by Fabrice Maiolino, the Deputy Consul General of France in Los Angeles. Afterwards, exciting activities ensued at the Go For Broke Monument in honor of Veterans Day. Guests were able to view the monument, and enjoy various family-friendly activities as well.
It was an exciting Saturday to celebrate the season, and Veterans Day. Check out these photos from November’s Target Free Family Saturday!
With the help of parents, assembling crafts is easier and more fun!
Making your own owls can be fun, but it’s still a lot of work!
Assembling a festive fall salad using the best that fall harvest has to offer with Kidding Around the Kitchen
Coloring a Veterans Day related coloring page with the Go For Broke National Education Center.
Children and adults alike, enjoy the energetic drum circle.
Each drumming session was packed with guests!
Concentrating on decorating and assembling a custom-made owl.
A pair of JANM guests show off their autumn-themed crafts!
Father and son pose with a caricature of themselves.
Photos by Caroline Jung, Richard Murakami, Russell Kitagawa, and Tsuneo Takasugi
*****
Don’t miss our next Target Free Family Saturday, “Winter Wonderland” on Saturday, December 14th from 11AM – 4PM! It’s a Winter Wonderland of seasonal crafts & activities including photos with Asian American Santa, a horse-drawn carriage, and kamishibai story-telling! For more information, visit janm.org/target.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to see it already, JANM’s newest exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts is on view until March 2, 2014. For more information on the exhibition please visit janm.org/goforbroke.
Earlier this week, la.cityvoter.com announced that the Japanese American National Museum was voted “Best Museum” on the 2013 Los Angeles Hot List. JANM was runner up for Best Museum in 2011 and 2012, but this year, LA voters placed JANM on top of 38 other great museums—including institutions like the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the L.A. County Museum of Art—for the number one spot!
Public Programs, such as October’s comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday, helped JANM reach the #1 spot on LA’s HOTLIST!
JANM was voted not only for its unique exhibitions, but for it’s public programs and exceptional staff and volunteers as well!
To all of those who voted for JANM, thank you so much! Also, thank you to our visitors, Museum members, staff, and dedicated volunteers for making JANM an amazing and vibrant institution!
*****
Fall is a great time to check out the Museum, be sure to view our exciting exhibitions and upcoming public programs:
Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 is now open! Come view a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades. This exhibition illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians. For more information please visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters
Mark your calendars for the upcoming exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts, opening on November 12, 2013. This exhibition chronicles the resilience and bravery of WWII Nisei soldiers both on and off the battlefield. For more information and updates please visit: janm.org/goforbroke
Stop by the Museum for November’s Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn from 11AM – 4PM on November 9th! We’ll have a variety of FREE activities including crafts, origami, a bounce house, a reading of Thanksgiving atObaachan’s with author Janet Mitsui Brown, and more! For details, please visit: janm.org/target
The day was jam-packed with loads of entertainment and activities! From a guided Gallery Tour with curator Jeff Yang, to a Photo Booth that snapped photos of guests in their costumes, there were activities that took place all day for people of all ages and interests! Thanks to all the visitors who joined us, and a BIG “Thank you” to every staff member and volunteer for helping!
Our November Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn is next weekend! It’s FREE all day and will take place on November 9th from 11AM – 4PM. For details: janm.org/target
Check out these photos from the October Target Free Family Saturdays event!
[Click on the photos to see full images]
Kidding Around the Kitchen inspired guests to choose and cut up their own trail mix.
Kidding Around the Kitchen leads children, teens, and adults in making their own healthy popcorn trail mix.
Carefully decorating a butterfly-shaped mask.
Showing off a one-of-a-kind mask!
JANM’s School Programs Developer, Lynn, busily assists and leads guests in creating their own superhero capes.
“Superboy” decorates his personal cape.
Even toddlers can decorate their own capes with the help of their parents!
Children pose as a superhero with their masks and capes, and can have their photo captured and printed.
WWII veteran and JANM docent, Hitoshi, transforms himself into a superhero!
Jeff Yang worked with artist Jeremy Arambulo in an interactive activity where they lead the audience in collaboratively creating an original comic-book superhero character!
Artist A.L. Baroza joined Jeff Yang in collaborating with the audience to “Build a Villain”.
Jeff Yang signs copies of the “Secret Identities” anthology.
A group of buddies team up to take down villains in superhero video games brought to JANM by GameTruck.
A caricature artist from Cartoon Slinger is busy at work turning children into comic-book characters!
Siblings mask their identities with their customized masks and capes, and pose with their caricatures.
“Supergirl” and “Superboy” pose for the camera with their caricatures.
One of our special visitors. She’s been coming to JANM events for over seven years!
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!
Screenprinting kaeru origami and taiko totes!
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!
Japanese mariachi Roger del Norte, performs for the crowd.
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.
JANM President/CEO G.W. Kimura with the visiting courts.
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.
A visitor and his mom work on their wacky paper hat.
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!)
What’s your fortune? One visitor is about to find out!
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!
Some nifty tote bags are shown off by their satisfied owners.
Three guests show off their Natsumatsuri decorated fans!
Rev. Bill Briones prepares for his talk on Obon traditions.
Kip Fulbeck photographs visitors for his identity activity.
What are you? Visitors answer the question on their photos.
Free airbrush tattoos are always a big hit with the younger set.
Everyone’s self-portraits get classy with our fancy frames!
Our volunteers staff the hopping paper frog table to teach visitors.
Honolulu’s princesses and queen take a tour of Common Ground.
Learn to dance the night away at our group dance lessons!
Check out those moves! Visitors learn traditional dances in an ondo lesson
One of our Courtyard Kids finds her name outside the Museum!
JANM volunteer Ruthie Kitagawa shows off a hopping paper frog.
Mariachi singer Lupita Infante performs with Roger del Norte.
It’s standing room only for the L.A. Matsuri taiko performance!
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.
What better way to get into the spirit of summer festivals than with some new duds? Try on a yukata with the help of Suehiro Kimono Agency and get your photo taken at our Natsumatsuri Family Festival this weekend on Saturday, August 10!
Yukata are traditional Japanese garments for both men and women. Unlike kimono, they are worn for casual occasions, especially during the summer for special events such as obon or firework displays. They are unlined and made of cotton—making them nice and cool for those long, hot days.
In Heian-era Japan, court nobles wore linen yukata after bathing, a practice later adopted by the public with the popularization of public baths. Today, they are often brightly colored with fun patterns such as florals or geometric designs. Many young women coordinate their yukata color with that of their obi, or sash—some even wearing a more transparent obi on top for decoration. Some go all out and also wear geta, or traditional wooden clogs, and a kanzashi, a cute hair ornament.
2013 Natsumatsuri Family Festival FREE ALL DAY!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
11AM – 5PM
2PM – 5PM: Try on a yukata and have your picture taken!
Suehiro Kimono Agency will dress you in a yukata so you can have a special picture to take home! Yukata are traditional light Japanese garments worn during the summer to keep cool.
One young guest proudly shows off his family portrait
We all had a blast at the Target Free Family Saturdays event on July 13! It was great to see so many families hanging out and working together to make family portraits and journals! The audience was packed for all of our book readings, especially Allen Say and his daughter Yuriko’s telling of The Favorite Daughter. While some of our young visitors made tasty and fresh summer salads with Kidding Around the Kitchen, others worked on recording their family stories in our writing workshop.
Allen Say reads from his new book “The Favorite Daughter,” accompanied by his daughter (and inspiration) Yuriko
If you missed this Target Day, come on out to the next one, Zap! Pow! Bam!, on October 12th. And don’t miss our upcoming free Natsumatsuri on August 10th!
Thanks again to everyone who showed up, and all of our great volunteers who helped out. Check out more photos on our Facebook page!
Photos by: Caroline Jung, Russell Kitagawa, and Tsuneo Takasugi
A young visitor works on her family portrait with a little help!Author Heidi Cole reads from her book “Am I a Color Too?”
We Tell Stories performs multicultural tales in Proud to Be Me!Family members work together to record their stories in our writing workshopTwo guests with their very own memory books
Visible & Invisible curator Dr. Duncan Williams leads a tour of the exhibitionGuests with their tasty creations from Kidding Around the Kitchen!
The very fun Natsumatsuri Family Festival is right around the corner—Saturday, August 10, 11 am – 5 pm. The National Museum welcomes ALL children to participate in free crafts and cultural activities—but there’s a special call out to Members!
To reward our members for supporting the National Museum, we will have “Member fast pass” lines for such popular activities as yukata dress-up, tote bag screen printing, and airbrush kid tattoos, not to mention a limited number of reserved-seating for the Japanese Mariachi and LA Matsuri Taiko performances.
The Japanese American National Museum is a community-based, cultural institution open for ALL people to learn about the stories of Japanese America. At JANM, we realize that our members and donors make an investment for EVERYONE and when we can, we give back a little extra to those supporters who help realize our mission and programs. Thank you for your continued support and we’ll see you at Natsumatsuri!
Did you honor a special child (or children) in your life this year? If you did it with the gift of a permanent engraving in the Plaza of the Japanese American National Museum, then your invitation has already been sent for our Saturday, August 10, 2013 Courtyard Kids luncheon.
This luncheon is invitation-only and will be a fun and refreshing time to celebrate some of our youngest supporters.
RSVP’s are due by Thursday, August 1. Please contact Gina Nieto (gnieto@janm.org or 213.830.5669) so that we may prepare food, goodie bags, and reserved tote bags (to be screen printed by your child later that day).
Even if your family can’t make the lunch but would like to attend Natsumatsuri—and take advantage of the member fast pass lines and reserved seating—please let Gina know and we will set aside a goodie bag and tote bag.
We are cutting the origami paper, ordering the bounce house, and lining up the entertainment…and you know what that means! JANM is gearing up for our annual Natsumatsuri family festival! On Saturday, August 10th, from 11 AM to 5PM, join us to celebrate summer with crafts, cultural performances, and activities—all for free.
This year, we’re going retro with lots of traditional summer festival activities. Get your blood pumping with a taiko lesson from JANM docent Hal Kiemi before learning what obon is all about. As always, there will be tons of fun activities and crafts all day, from screenprinting tote bags to making wacky paper hats.
It’s not all old school—we’re making new traditions this year too! Japanese mariachi singer Roger del Norte will perform with MEXICAPAN and singer Lupita Infante for the first ever mariachi concert at JANM.
Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate the New Year & the Year of the Snake!
Over 2,800 came throughout the day for our 2013 Oshogatsu Family Festival on Sunday, January 6th to enjoy free crafts, performances & food.
Thanks so much to our volunteer photographers who captured all the fun—Caroline Jung, Russell Kitagawa, Daryl Kobayashi, Richard Murakami, and Tsuneo Takasugi.
Here’s a selection of the many, many photos they took to document the day!
(Click on the images to see the full photos)
Multigenerational family fun at Oshogatsu Family Festival
Having fun with zodiac animal & snake crafts
Cute girl & her paper snake
Decorating her animal zodiac wreath
A family pose proudly with their paper snakes
A very focused little girl…coloring is serious business!
Families having fun together with crafts
It was great to see so many extended families celebrating the New Year at JANM!
The Omikuji ladies with fortunes & wishes for the New Year!
Selecting a lucky wish from the box
Ever resourceful, our Christmas tree became our Omikuji Wish Tree for the day!
Ruthie Kitagawa & her assistants taught visitors how to fold origami snakes
Learning how to fold origami snakes
Lots of smiling faces to be seen all day!
Zaru soba noodles with Kidding Around the Kitchen. Yum!
Chowing down on zaru soba noodles!
Varied reactions from these girls, but the zaru soba is not only healthy, but a lucky dish too!
Shaun Ichiyanagi, the “Candyman,” wowed the crowds as he made snake & other sculpture candy.
Lots of lucky kids were able to win candy sculptures to take home
A family shows off their candy sculptures
JANM Volunteer Bob Moriguchi with Shaun the Candyman and his reward for being his assistant for the day!
Wonder what was so surprising? Was he amazed by Shaun the Candyman?
A boy assists Sonoko Sakai by fanning the sushi rice for the rice tasting sponsored by Common Grains & JRE
Young ones taking a break from the crafts and activities with some play time in the Toddler Room
Face painting was another popular activity
Some opted to get their animals painted on their arms
Sandee Hashimoto took a break from volunteering to pose with her family
Hal Keimi is a long-time JANM volunteer who leads interactive taiko demonstrations for school tours throughout the year. He led 2 taiko sessions at Oshogatsu Family Festival
Hands-on taiko lessons!
Playing the taiko with a little help
Watching little kids have fun with taiko
A future taiko master?
Kodama Taiko did two Mochitsuki performances & demonstrations
Kodama Taiko’s very energetic & entertaining Mochitsuki performance
Kids got to try pounding mochi too!
Pounding mochi with the kine (wooden mallet)
Yoisho!
Reptacular Animals were on hand with a reptile petting zoo!
This boy doesn’t look too sure about the snake
There were also assorted lizards on hand
Tortoises too!
Sonoko Sakai with Suzy Nakamura, one of the Onigiri Design Contest winners
For more Oshogatsu Family Festival photos, including from the Onigiri Design Contest, check out our photo album on our JANM Facebook page >>
