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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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Full Institution name
Japanese American National Museum
Machine Name
janm

Our story is an American story. Our founders promised that the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) would stand as a beacon of civil rights to ensure that what happened to Japanese Americans in 1942 would never happen to any other group. Therefore, we are embarking on the largest campaign in our history to secure our future and transform our physical and digital presence, our exhibitions, and our programming.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) announces the recipients of the 2025 Toshizo Watanabe Democracy Fellowship. This fellowship is a yearlong professional development program designed for emerging leaders from Japan across sectors. It advances global democracy and strengthens ties between the United States and Japan by promoting democratic values. It also fosters understanding and cooperation between the two nations.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) condemns today's presidential proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to enforce mass deportations of Venezuelan immigrants. That law permits deporting people from countries with which the US is at war and that have invaded the US. In 1941, President Roosevelt used it to arrest and detain citizens of Japan, Germany, and Italy without due process in Department of Justice internment camps.

Each year on or around February 19, Japanese American communities and allies across the US commemorate the Day of Remembrance (DOR). On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which directed the US military to uproot 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and incarcerate them without due process in America’s concentration camps during World War II.

The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) was founded by the Japanese American community as a beacon for civil rights and democracy, ensuring that the injustices faced by Japanese Americans during World War II are never repeated against any other group. Our Museum stands as a place of memory, truth, and justice, where history is not only preserved but actively used to confront contemporary threats to democracy and human dignity.

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