JANM Extends the Ireichō to December 1, 2024

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has extended the viewing and stamping of the Ireichō, the sacred book that records—for the first time ever—the names of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in US Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority camps during World War II, to December 1, 2024. Reservations are required and can be made online at janm.org/ireicho.

Since its arrival at JANM on September 24, 2022, visitors from across generations, the nation, and the globe have visited the Museum to stamp the names as a way to honor those incarcerated during World War II. Community participation continues to “activate” it and rectify the historical record by correcting misspelled names or revealing names that may have been omitted from the record.

The Ireichō is part of Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration, which addresses the erasure of the identities of individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration and expands the concept of what a monument is through three distinct, interlinking elements: a sacred book of names as a monument (Ireichō), a website as a monument (Ireizō), and light sculptures as monuments (Ireihi). The project is funded by the Mellon Foundation and led by Duncan Ryuken Williams, co-curator of Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration at JANM, professor of American Studies & Ethnicity and Religion as well as director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture.

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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 hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories and strives to provide a voice for Japanese Americans as well as 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 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.