Japanese American National Museum

We're looking for interns! Apply for a 2021 Getty Marrow Undergraduate Summer Internship at JANM. The following opportunities are now available: Exhibition and Audience Engagement Intern Media Arts Intern Collections and Curatorial Intern... Deadline to apply is May 6, 2021. Visit janm.org/jobs/apply-internships for more information. Please share with anyone who might be interested! Japanese American National Museum (Gift of Mori Shimada, 92.10.2O)

Today at 12 p.m. PDT, please join USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture for Reparations Past & Present," a conversation with NY Times Bestselling author and National Book Award Winner, Ta-Nehisi Coates. Introduced by Duncan Ryuken Williams (Ito Center) and moderated by Susan Kamei (USC) RSVP here: https://usc.zoom.us/webi/register/WN_5HqvhI-yQOSf2FNDjG-0-Q #BJAReparations #LetsTalkReparations #ReparationsNow

As part of Transcendients: Heroes at Borders, Transcendients: Memorial to Healthcare Workers is an exhibition of Memorial Scrolls of U.S. healthcare workers who have tragically passed away while serving others. The scrolls were produced in collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian, based on their ongoing database Lost on the Frontlines.... Guardian Kaiser Health News Taiji Terasaki #LostOnTheFrontline #JAMuseum #transcendients

Japanese immigrants have worked in, owned, and sustained restaurants in the U.S. for over a century and Japanese restaurants continue to be as integral a part of Japanese America as home cooking. In this third and final part of A Taste of Home, we will examine the past, present, and future of Japanese American restaurants and dining through a conversation with Chef Akira Hirose and Jo Ann Maehara (Azay Little Tokyo) and Chef Niki Nakayama (n/naka) moderated by Professor Samuel H. Yamashita. We will also hear from graphic novelist Sam Nakahira on her new book on 1970s California cuisine and local food movements through the story of Bill Fujimoto and explore the legacy of Japanese cuisine and restaurants with a presentation of items from JANM’s collection. This Sunday at 2pm. RSVP here: http://ow.ly/lmPH50D8FDT

This summer, interns from JANM, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes and the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles collaborated to create a collections-based project tasked with answering the question: How have immigrants and subsequent generations shaped what it means to be American? Shelby Ottengheime and Jose Quirarte explore the complexity of American identity through ways that Japanese Americans preserved traditional Japanese values and institutions during World War II. Read about their project here: https://blog.janm.org//ethnic-effects-perseverance-resili/

Ayako Ishigaki: Radical Issei Feminist Writer in Mid-Century America Ayako (Tanaka) Ishigaki was born on September 21, 1903 in Tokyo. According to the article by Greg Robinson, "she refused an arranged marriage, took paid employment outside of the home, and became interested in politics as an organizer for the progressive Farmer-Labor party. After she was arrested and harassed by police, she agreed to her family’s suggestion that she join relatives in the United States." Ishi...gaki wrote unapologetically about topics concerning wartime militarization, women in the workforce, birth control and the patriarchy. She penned articles, newspaper columns and most notably, the semi-autobiographical book, "Restless Wave" which was published under the pen name Haru Matsui. "Ishigaki made a name for herself as a journalist during the 1930s, writing both in English and Japanese. What is particularly noteworthy about all her writing is the central place the author accorded gender and women’s experience, which gives her work a remarkably contemporary tone." Read more about the revolutionary mind of Ayako Ishigaki, on Discover Nikkei: http://www.discovernikkei.org///2020/10/20/ayako-ishigaki/ Photo of Ayako Ishigaki, 1952. (Wikipedia)

Linda Nishio (b. 1952) grew up in Los Angeles and attended the University of Kansas and Rutgers University, where she developed a multimedia art practice that involved photography, video and film, bookmaking and live performance. Her work centers around the definition and redefinition of selfexploring the ways that we see ourselves, the psychology of that vision, and the way that others see us. Her work was shown in the exhibition, Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, Design & Activism. Watch a short video about the artist, created by the Watase Media Arts Center in conjunction with the exhibition in 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpKUV5Ru0uY Performance still from Ghost in the Machine (1981), Linda Nishio. Photo by Elizabeth Ennis. Courtesy Linda Nishio.

The Vancouver Asahi baseball team, 1915. Over 100 years have passed since this team was formed and for many Japanese Canadians, the Asahi baseball team carries historical and cultural significance. The team was disbanded at the outbreak of WWII when many Japanese Canadians were forced into concentration camps. Decades later in 2003 and 2005, the Asahi team was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. But what happened to those players of the famed team? "In Search of the ...Two Earliest Asahi Players, Kodama and Tabata" sets out to find the last remaining relatives of these founding members. Find out how the search for these players led to one family’s surprising reunion. Read this piece on Discover Nikkei, http://www.discovernikkei.org//2020/10/7/vancouver-asahi-1/. The article is part of the series, More Than a Game: Nikkei Sports. Deadline to submit your own Nikkei sports story is approaching! You have until Oct 31, more info at 5dn.org/sports __ The members of the Asahi; 1915. Kaichi Tabata is at the second from the right on the front row. (Photo courtesy of Nikkei National Museum 2010.30.1.3.10.)

JANM is honored to be selected as one of the 20 Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous arts and cultural organizations designated as America’s Cultural Treasures, and to be the recipient of a $5.5 million grant over four years, thanks to the vision and generosity of the Ford Foundation along with other leading foundations and major donors who have pledged to donate more than $80 million to this initiative. Read the full statement here: http://www.janm.org/press/release/511/

In this week’s episode of ArtistTalk, Taiji Terasaki revisits a short film he created for his exhibition, "Transcendients: Heroes at Borders currently on view. "Transcendients: Fire + Water" features mist imagery of the community heroes featured in the exhibition, and Terasaki speaks about the inspiration that informed this piece. Full video up on our YouTube channel (playlist Transcendients: Artist Talks with Taiji Terasaki). Tune in for new episodes of #ArtistTalk every Friday. #Fire #Water #Transcendients #HeroesAtBorders #Film #MistMedia #TaijiTerasaki

JANM’s CMA collections associate, Shawn Iwaoka, provides a look at the art and artifacts of Issei photographer J.T. Sata. Donated to JANM’s permanent collection in 2005, explore Sata’s Modernist photography with an exclusive look at his professional archives. Watch the video on our YT: https://youtu.be/B_-I0KutJGk All photographs, artifacts, and archival material are part of JANM’s JT Sata Collection, a Gift of Frank and Marian Sata & Family (2005.187). #JANMcollections #unboxed #photography

Ykai, , are supernatural monsters from Japanese folklore Check out all the haunting items (and more) at Shopjanmstore online, including spooky Yokai, Shiba Toys, and Usagi Yojimbo Puzzle! See what's new: https://conta.cc/315EAI0

Yoichi "Oke" Okamoto was the official White House photographer under Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. For so long we have been provided a glimpse into the inner workings of each presidency, but how often do we pause to consider who is behind the lens? Oke was born in Yonkers, New York in 1915. Throughout the early years of his life, he worked as an amateur magician, candid photographer in local nightclubs and staff photographer for a local Syracuse newspaper. He later went... on to serve in the U.S. Army's Signal Corps and was the first New York-area Nisei enlistee, despite being initially denied due to his Japanese ancestry. During this time he traveled through Europe as a war correspondent and was appointed head of the Visual Materials section of the US Information Agency. His photography was gaining momentum that would lead to his life-changing role in the White House. As the second ever U.S. Presidential photographer, Oke was granted unlimited access, allowing him to capture any and all candid moments of Johnson. He spent on average 16 hours a day at the White House, photographing roughly 675,000 photos over the years. Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency has been said to have the most photographic documentation due to Okamoto's prolific work. Author Greg Robinson once wrote of Oke's work that "his powerful portraits show the president in a variety of moods, and reveal the burden of the office on the man...they go beyond political propaganda and shine as both art and history." Image: Yoichi Okamoto, the official White House photographer, photographed himself in the mirror at the L.B.J. Ranch in Stonewall, Tex. Jan. 2, 1964. L.B.J. Presidential Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto read more about Yoichi Okamoto here: http://www.discovernikkei.org///2018/10/11/yoichi-okamoto/

The act of letter writing is a healing tool to support mental health. Join us tomorrow as we drink tea and write letters of solidarity to Little Tokyo seniors or special elders in our lives while spending some time in personal reflection. Prompts will be provided by special guests and traci kato-kiriyama, former Little Tokyo +LAB Artist-in-Residence at JANM, in partnership with Tuesday Night Project. Make yourself a cup of tea, get comfortable, and join us online for this int...eractive program! All ages are welcome to participate. RSVPs are required: http://ow.ly/wHf750BRqKy ___ : Mrs. Furuzawa reading letters at home, March 22, 1950. Photograph by Toyo Miyatake Studio, Gift of the Alan Miyatake Family (96.267.21)

Have you ever heard the story of Issun-boshi, the one-inch boy? A folktale is a story that we pass down from one generation to the next. Long ago, in Japan, kamishibai storytellers would travel from village to village telling children tall tales of princesses and ogres with the help of colorful illustrated cards. Storytelling has always been a treasured part of the JANM school visits program, and now with virtual visits elementary school students can continue to experience ...these captivating tales through the screen! Storytelling is a featured activity in Virtual Visit: Culture and Community, a 45-min live experience designed for children grades 1-3. To learn more and make a reservation go to http://www.janm.org/visit/groups/ or email [email protected]. Artwork courtesy of Nina Nakao.