JANM Celebrates the Oshogatsu Family Festival on January 7, 2024

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will host the Oshogatsu Family Festival from 11 a.m.–5 p.m.on January 7, 2024. The popular annual New Year celebration will include free crafts, performances, and cultural activities for all ages to help ring in the Year of the Dragon. Tickets will be made available on janm.org/events later this fall. Admission to Oshogatsu is free, but advance tickets  are recommended.

New Year’s, or Oshogatsu, is one of Japan’s longest and most important holidays. Although Oshogatsu originally referred to the whole month of January, most people associate it with the first three days (sanga nichi) of the month. The festivities will include souvenir photos by cre8tive outlets, fun dragon-themed crafts and origami, a dragon-themed scavenger hunt for prizes, and a chance to win a candy sculpture made by Shinobu “Shan the Candyman” Ichiyanagi through a Kids’ Raffle (while supplies last). Kodamo Taiko will perform a traditional mochitsuki, musically pounding rice into the sweet treat, mochi. Exclusive benefits will be available to JANM Members, free admission to see Glenn Kaino: Aki’s Market, The Bias Inside Us, Common Ground: The Heart of Community, and so much more. The full schedule of events and details will be posted on janm.org.

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, 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 is a center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It 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 100 exhibitions onsite while traveling 40 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and on Thursday from 12 p.m.–8 p.m. JANM is free every third Thursday of the month. On all other Thursdays, JANM is free from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.