JANM is proud to participate in Blue Star Museums 2014. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, JANM admission is FREE for all active duty military personnel and up to five members of their families.
Many members of JANM’s extended family are military men and women; some of our volunteers are distinguished World War II veterans, who share memories of their days of service during docent tours and panel discussion events. Indeed, WWII plays a pivotal role in the Japanese American story, and in the museum’s mission to promote understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.
We are honored to engage a new generation of service personnel by becoming a Blue Star Museum, joining with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 other museums across the country.
Installation of 1963-64 new officers of Nisei Memorial Post 9938, Veterans of Foreign Wars at Larchmont Hall, California, April 27, 1963. Photograph by Toyo Miyatake Studio, Gift of the Alan Miyatake Family. (96.267.786)
The exhibition chronicles the history of Japanese American Nisei soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service who served during World War II to prove their loyalty to the nation that had disowned them.
The Aratani Central Hall was packed for the reception and program with enthusiastic members and special guests. This preview included an informal gallery walkthrough given by curator, Eric Saul.
The program started with America the Beautiful performed by Keiko Kawashima; a welcome by Helen H. Ota, External Relations Officer at JANM; and a special keynote by Eric Saul.
It was a very intimate exhibition preview—it allowed guests to reflect on history, and to appreciate the efforts of Japanese American Nisei veterans before, during and even after World War II.
Check out these photos from the member’s preview!
Curator Eric Saul leads members through an informal gallery walkthrough, sharing insight on each photograph.
Keiko Kawashima, a professional singer, actress, and dancer, sings America the Beautiful.
Helen H. Ota, External Relations Officer at JANM welcomes members to the preview.
Curator Eric Saul is the keynote speaker at the Member’s Preview for Go For Broke.
The Aratani Central Hall is filled with members and special guests.
Cynthia Villasenor, Vice President of External Relations at JANM, and Curator Eric Saul exchange a few words in the lobby.
The gallery is filled with members, eager to view the extensive exhibition.
The exhibition is supplemented by artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collection.
Two members get a closer look at a photograph.
Photo Credits: Tsuneo Takasugi, Richard Murakami, and Richard Watanabe.
Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts is on view at JANM through March 2, 2014. For more details, visit: janm.org/goforbroke
Enjoy autumn-themed crafts and activities at our November Target Free Family Saturday!
Join us this weekend for our Target Free Family Saturdays event on November 9th from 11am to 4pm! The day will feature a variety of autumn-themed crafts and activities, in addition to celebrating Veterans Day with the Go For Broke National Education Center.
Assemble your own Festive Fall Salad with Kidding Around the Kitchen!
The day will start at 11am with Kidding Around the Kitchen, as they will lead a fabulous make-it-yourself Festive Fall Salad, using the best that fall harvest has to offer. Also beginning at 11am will be a Comic Book Lounge, where guests can relax and read comic books in celebration of the Marvels and Monsters exhibition.
At 1:30pm (and again at 2:30pm) you can join in on an energetic drum circle by playing on a drum (no experience necessary)! Then at 3pm, join us for a reading of Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s with author Janet Mitsui Brown. Then stick around to decorate your own furoshiki (wrapping cloth) complete with your own mini omanju (traditional confection) to snack on!
Meet Japanese American WWII veterans at the Go For Broke Monument!
Most importantly, don’t forget to visit Go For Broke at their Monument, just outside of the National Museum. Not only can you view the monument, but there will be lots of family-friendly activities. You can even get baseball-style cards signed by Japanese American WWII Veterans!
Have Japanese American WWII veterans sign their baseball cards for you at the Go For Broke monument!
This Saturday’s Target Free Family Saturday is not limited to these activities, but will feature even more FREE crafts and activities ALL DAY! Including a camoflouge-print jump house in honor of Veterans Day, Ruthie’s Origami Corner, coloring, and more!
Photo Credits: Russell Kitagawa, Richard Murakami, Tsuneo Takasugi, Caroline Jung, and Esther Shin
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Be sure to check out Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics: 1942-1986, on view through February 9, 2014. Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades. For more information please visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters
For the full schedule and updates on the November Target Free Family Saturday (or to see what’s coming up for the December event), visit: janm.org/target.
Young Nisei soldier who entered the Army before the war and his mother pose in their strawberry field in Northern California shortly before incarceration. Image credit: National Archives
The Nisei soldiers who fought in World War II embodied a particular set of values, passed down from generation to generation. Giri—sense of duty. Gambare—perseverance. And of course, go for broke—give it your all.
Go For Broke chronicles the resilience and bravery of these young men both on and off the battlefield. Japanese American soldiers fought in eight brutal campaigns across Europe, receiving thousands of medals for heroism even while suffering an astronomical casualty rate. Thousands more joined the Military Intelligence Service and operated throughout the Pacific Theater as language and intelligence specialists. Yet their battles were not finished when the war ended. The Nisei veterans returned to fight pervasive racism back home—and proved just as successful in this arena. With their help, hundreds of anti-Asian laws were struck down.
First displayed at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York, Go For Broke shows how instrumental these soldiers were in the Japanese American fight for justice both overseas and at home. The photographs in this exhibition are supplemented by a special Guide by Cell audio tour, with narration by curator Eric Saul and Nisei veterans.
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To celebrate the opening of this exhibition, we invite all JANM Members for a special preview of the exhibition before it opens to the public.
Member Preview Sunday, November 10th • 2-4PM
Members are invited to join us for an exclusive preview of Go For Broke with curator Eric Saul. To RSVP, contact specialevents@janm.org or 213.625-0414 ext. 2222 by Wednesday, November 6.
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Join us also for this special public program on December 7th presented in partnership with the Go For Broke National Educational Center:
The Military Intelligence Service (M.I.S.) in Occupied Japan Saturday, December 7th • 2PM
M.I.S. veterans, Edwin Nakasone, Bruce Kaji, and Hitoshi Sameshima, will discuss their roles in the rebuilding of Japan after the end of World War II. The MIS was a US military unit mostly comprised of Japanese American Nisei who provided translation, interpretation, and interrogation services during World War II. Presented as part of the Tateuchi Public Program Series.
The traveling exhibition, Fighting For Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We, the People”? opens at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina this Saturday!
The Levine will be the 10th site where we have travelled this exhibition that presents the diverse perspectives of seven individuals whose lives and communities were forever changed by World War II.
The exhibition will be on display from January 19 through July 14, 2013. Go check it out this Sunday at the Levine Museum’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration 2013. Free admission, activities, & performances.
Our Fighting for Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We, the People”? exhibition is traveling next to the Highground Veterans Memorial Park in Neillsville, WI from November 1 through December 31, 2012.
The exhibition presents the diverse perspectives of seven ordinary citizens whose lives and communities were forever changed by World War II. It asks visitors to think critically about freedom, history, and, ultimately, the ongoing struggle to live democratically in a diverse America.
The Highground is the 9th venue for this traveling exhibition. The mission of The Highground is to honor Veterans and their families and to educate about the cost of things—the human cost. The Highground is a Veterans Memorial Park that pays tribute to the Dead, and honors the Survivors, their service, and their sacrifices. It also pays tribute to the people who supported them when they were away and upon their return.
Highground Veterans Memorial Park
W7031 Ridge Road
Neillsville, WI 54456
For more information about this presentation, contact 715.743.4224, or visit thehighground.org.
For more information about the exhibition and a listing of other venues, to explore an online version, or to download the accompanying Educator’s Resource Guide, visit ncdemocracy.org.
Fighting for Democracy is presented by the Highground Veterans Memorial Park in partnership with the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, an educational program of the Japanese American National Museum, to advance the understanding of, and commitment to, American democratic ideals. The Los Angeles exhibition and traveling version are funded in part by the U.S. Army Center of Military History. The traveling exhibition ten-city tour has been made possible through the generous support of The Boeing Company.
