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Closed for Renovations

JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation and will reopen in late 2026. While the museum and store are closed, join us for programs and events on our Little Tokyo campus, throughout Southern California, and beyond. 

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  • Staged Reading: "Internment" by Phinneas Kiyomura

    Feb 08, 2015

    Actor and screenwriter Phinneas Kiyomura will oversee a reading of his TV pilot script, Internment, which tells the story of an estranged Japanese American family who are forcibly reunited when all are sent to an incarceration camp in Central California during World War II. The script attempts to explore the complicated dynamics that erupt within families and countries during times of crisis. Directed by Chris...

  • Learning at Lunch

    May 02, 2014

    All Members are invited to bring a brown bag lunch and an open mind as Collections Manager, Margaret Zachow Wetherbee, will show a selection of the National Museum's bird pin collection, part of the American's Concentration Camp experience, to showcase their interesting stories. RSVP to memberevents@janm.org or call 213.830.5657.

  • Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstration

    Sep 28, 2013

    This event is FREE! The Japanese tea ceremony is called chanoyu or sado in Japanese. It is a choreographed ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea (called matcha) together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea.

  • Target Free Family Saturday: Candy Land

    Feb 12, 2011

    FREE ALL DAY! Celebrate food and all things candy at JANM! Fun treats for the entire family! Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together. ALL DAY CRAFT ACTIVITIES: Embellish and fill a box with your own candy-inspired decorations Make a wearable treat by constructing a candy lei to give to someone speci...

  • Dreams to Dreams

    Dec 02, 2008 - Jan 25, 2009

    SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT The Japanese American National Museum in association with Dacosta of Chocolate Soop bring you the first custom vinyl toy show in a museum. 39 artists have customized Chocolate Soop’s DCTO (Dream Come True Object), a futuristic vinyl version of a traditional Japanese New Year’s folk toy. DCTO (pronounced dik-toe) is an urban vinyl version of a daruma, symbol of the 5th century Buddhist mon...

  • 1st & Central Summer Concerts: Chicha Libre and Etran Finatawa

    Sep 25, 2008

    1st & Central 2008 closes with a global dance party featuring the West Coast debut of Brooklyn-based Chicha Libre and the desert sounds of Niger’s Etran Finatawa. Don’t leave home without your dancing shoes as Latin rhythms, surf music, and psychedelic pop inspired by Peruvian music from the Amazon share the stage with driving guitar riffs that will transport you deep into the heart of the Sahara.

  • GIANT ROBOT BIENNALE ART EXHIBITION KICKS OFF NEW JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM SERIES NOV. 3

    Oct 12, 2007

    The Japanese American National Museum will begin a new series of collaborative exhibitions entitled Salon Pop by presenting Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues, developed in collaboration with Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot and running from November 3, 2007 through January 13, 2008. The exhibition is being sponsored by the Imprint Culture Labtm, with additional support by the James Irvine Foundation and Scion. An opening r...

  • Grand Avenue Festival

    Oct 07, 2006

    This annual celebration of Downtown LA is chocked full of music and dance performances, exhibitions, screenings, and arts workshops. The National Museum is the "off the block" participating organization, featuring taiko performances, craft demonstrations, ondo lessons, and more. Please come and celebrate with the rest of LA! For more information, visit the Downtown LA website

  • Fresh Words & Actions: "Mixed Messages", by Cherylene Lee

    Jun 17, 2004

    When a physical anthropologist of mixed ethnicity (Chinese, Japanese, British) discovers that her skull proportions bear a remarkable similarity to La Brea Woman, a nine thousand-year-old fossil, she believes she has found an important clue that will revolutionize the accepted theory of when and how humans first arrived in North America. Her research is complicated when a mixed descendant of the Chumash tribe wants L...

  • Japanese American Funerals: Christian and Buddhist

    Aug 30, 1997

    Featuring: Rev. Grant Hagiya of Centenary United Methodist Church, Rinban Noriaki Ito of Higashi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and Michael Motoyasu of Kubota Nikkei Mortuary What is the meaning behind the rituals performed at Japanese American funerals? What is koden and is it still appropriate? What are the responsibilities of family members and friends? Learn the answers to these and other questions about Japane...