Japanese American National Museum
Established in 1985, Japanese American National Museum (JANM) promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite while traveling 17 exhibits to leading cultural museums in the US, Japan, and South America. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.
Updated March 2023
Stories from This Author
Every Branch Has a Personality of Its Own – A Profile of Chiye Tomihiro
April 21, 2014 • Japanese American National Museum
Chiye Tomihiro is used to being interviewed. She testified before the Commission of Citizens (CWRIC) in 1981, her memories are in several oral history collections, and she has appeared on TV and in magazine stories. Her grace reflects both her experience and her nature. Poised and at ease, she offers cold drinks to visitors in her lakefront Chicago apartment. She wastes no time. “I was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1924. The first thing that I mention to people from …
I DON’T COMPLAIN – A Profile of Art Morimitsu
April 14, 2014 • Japanese American National Museum
The story of Chicagoan Art Morimitsu’s life is the story of a community—the story of Japanese American immigrants whose sons and daughters triumphed over hardships and discrimination to make their way as exemplary Americans. At age 86, Morimitsu knew that his life’s story was the stuff of legend. In a June, 1998 interview his mischievous grin and twinkling eyes indicate the pleasure that it gives him to recall the events of his long life of hard work and service. Morimitsu’s …
Nurturing a Family Business: The Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Aug. 29, 2007 • Japanese American National Museum
It is mid-March in California’s Central Valley, and Richard Yamaguchi is very busy. One thousand black pine trees need to be trimmed and shaped; several must be carefully dug out and moved for landscapers in need of this familiar and iconic variety of Japanese conifer. Only two weeks remain before the trees come out of their seasonal dormancy, after which they cannot be trimmed or moved until next November, when all the remaining trees—some of which have taken 50 years …
Strength in Beauty: Ruth Asawa
May 24, 2007 • Japanese American National Museum
"I can see glimpses of my childhood in my work. The seemingly endless patterns we made in the dust, the shapes of the flowers and the vegetation, the translucence of a dragonfly’s wing when sunlight pours through it—these things have influenced my work.” - Ruth Asawa, 2001 Strength in Beauty For Nisei artist Ruth Asawa, her work reflects the richness of everyday life and the beauty of ordinary things. Her intricately crocheted wire sculptures, lithographs, and drawings, speak of the …
