Japanese American National Museum Store Online
The award-winning Museum Store of the Japanese American National Museum features distinctive Asian American merchandise for all occasions and generations. Their unique product line represents the essence of the Japanese American experience, while also promoting an appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity. All proceeds from the Museum Store support Museum programs and exhibitions.
The articles in this series were originally written for the Japanese American National Museum’s online store [janmstore.com] to give a deeper understanding of the authors, artists, and traditions featured in the store.
Stories from this series
Author Dr. Cherstin M. Lyon: Honoring Footsteps in the Sands of Time
June 14, 2012 • Edward Yoshida
Gordon Hirabayashi patiently sat in a jail cell as military officials discussed what to do with him. He had refused to register for relocation to Tule Lake, and yet the military could not allow him to stay in Seattle. Hirabayashi suggested that the military forcibly remove him to the regional assembly center so that the military would be in compliance with the exclusion order and he did not have to betray his conscience by obeying a racially discriminatory law that …
Hapa-ly Ever After: An Interview with Jeff Chiba Stearns
June 12, 2012 • Mia Nakaji Monnier
Growing up in the predominantly white city of Kelowna, British Columbia, Jeff Chiba Stearns felt very aware of being different from most of the people around him. Born to a Sansei mother and “Euro-mutt” father (of English, Scottish, German, and Russian descent), he was no stranger to the “What are you?” question. Over the years, Stearns continued to reflect on his cultural identity until eventually he began to illustrate his thoughts (using a process he calls “animation meditation”). The result, …
Stories United: The Japanese American Journey and Maui Taiko
May 7, 2012 • Elizabeth Ishida
“As we share our culture and learn about others, we can choose to live harmoniously,” Kay Fukumoto of Maui Taiko shares her taiko philosophy. “We are all one people on one earth. Peace begins inside each of us. If we focus on it as an end goal, we can surely make progress to that end.” Know where you come from. Appreciate your past. Respect it. Share it with others. These are the lessons most take away from Great Grandfather’s Drum, …
Airborne Dreams: Christine R. Yano
Jan. 19, 2012 • Susan Osa
During the postwar era in the mid 1950s, in the midst of gender and racial politics, globalism, and cosmopolitanism, Pan Am introduced its “Nisei” stewardess program with the hiring of Japanese American flight attendants for its Tokyo-bound flights. Airborne Dreams: “Nisei” Stewardesses and Pan American World Airways, by Dr. Christine Yano, weaves together the story of Pan Am, America’s premiere airline during this era, and its strategies for expanding and dominating the international air travel, with the recollection and experiences …
Hanafuda Hawaii: Helen Nakano Brings Generations Together
Oct. 26, 2011 • Leslie Yamaguchi
One look at the website, HanafudaHawaii.com, makes it evident that Helen Nakano is an ambassador with a grand vision in mind. “The mission of Hanafuda Hawaii is to bring generations a little closer.” During plantation times, she explained, families throughout the islands played Hanafuda. Today, however, ways for the young and old to connect are far fewer. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii of Issei parents from Hiroshima, Japan, Nakano has seen a great deal of the world. Married to a now …
Generation Teas
March 29, 2011 • Mia Nakaji Monnier
In the Japanese American National Museum Store lives a five-generation family of teas, dressed in colorful labels, snuggling tin-to-tin on the shelf they call home. This flavorful family is the realization of Maria Kwong’s more-than-a-decade-long dream to bring custom tea to the National Museum. For Maria, the Museum’s Director of Retail & Visitor Services, it had been a dream delayed by the challenge of finding a tea company willing to produce blends in quantities small enough to suit the Museum’s …