JANM Announces Two New Online Exhibitions

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) recently launched two new online exhibitions, Henry Sugimoto’s Artistic Evolution and Tanaka Photo Studio: Family, Tradition, Business, and Community Before World War II, on janm.org.

“We are pleased to share these incredible collections online. Henry Sugimoto’s art illustrates his prolific career, in which he captured scenes ranging from the French countryside to New York’s Central Park as well as the Issei immigration experience and World War II incarceration. Chikashi Tanaka’s photographs give an intimate look into the vibrancy of the Los Angeles Japanese American community prior to World War II. Now the public will be able to explore their work for themselves and see how the contributions of people of Japanese ancestry continue to be relevant today,” said Kristen Hayashi, curator and director of Collections, Management, and Access at JANM.

Henry Sugimoto’s Artistic Evolution captures the world of Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto, a Japanese American artist whose journey from Wakayama, Japan, to Hanford, California, and ultimately to the bustling streets of Manhattan, influenced his diverse and evocative body of artworks. Summer interns Jill Yanai and Maya Lee curated this online exhibition, which features Sugimoto’s paintings and wood and linoleum cut prints. Henry Sugimoto’s Artistic Evolution was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (MA-252045-OMS-22).

Tanaka Photo Studio: Family, Tradition, Business, and Community Before World War II highlights the work of Issei photographer Chikashi Tanaka who ran the Tanaka Photo Studio in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo from 1912 until his incarceration at the Gila River concentration camp in 1942. Curated by summer intern Nara Duffie, the exhibition features fifty photographs that reflect many aspects of life during the prewar era, including weddings, funerals, traditions, businesses, and holidays. JANM encourages people who recognize anyone in the photographs to fill out an online form to share their story with the Museum. Tanaka Photo Studio was made possible by the Tanaka Family who donated the collection to JANM.

With funding provided by the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant and the Council on Library Information Resources, JANM continues to digitize its collection and make it available online. Artwork from these online exhibitions are among a number of collections that the Museum has recently added to its eMuseum collection.

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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.