Japanese American National Museum

Exhibitions and collectionsfollowing a moving launch ceremony in september 2022, the exhibition irei: National monument for the wwii Japanese American incarceration, has had a truly National impact. The project is a collaboration with the university of southern California and supported by the mellon foundation's monuments project. The centerpiece is the ireicho, a book that, for the first time, records the names of the over 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in seventy-five world war ii confinement sites. To date over 10,000 people have made pilgrimages from thirty-seven states and from as far away as switzerland and japan to stamp 28,000 names in an act of healing and repair. It is because of this powerful response that janm has extended the ireicho through the end of 2024. Janm's daniel k. inouye National center for the preservation of democracy (democracy center) commissioned audrey chan and jason chu to create an American vocabulary: words to action, a series of twenty-one multilingual flashcards featuring figures, events, and actions from asian American, native Hawaiian, and pacific islander (aanhpi) communities. Selections from these works were displayed on the glass windows of janm's pavilion from october through may, a highly visible way to equip audiences with a vocabulary for agency and allyship in the fight for social justice.janm honored the stories of its many volunteers and supporters who were unjustly incarcerated as children in the exhibition don't fence me in: coming of age in america's concentration camps, which was on view from march 1 - october 1, 2023. Through photographs, personal stories, and artifacts from janm's collection, the exhibition revealed the strength and ingenuity of young americans who came of age in the ten war relocation authority camps and the crystal city department of justice interment camp. These examples of universal experiences of adolescence volunteer projects, camping trips, social dances, scout troops, and sports leagues were points of connection and empathy for visitors of all ages.janm extended its reach beyond its walls by presenting new online-only exhibitions as well as traveling exhibitions to other venues. The virtual exhibition wakaji matsumotoan artist in two worlds: los angeles and hiroshima, 19171944, launched in september 2022. It highlighted an artist's rare photographs of the preworld war ii los angeles Japanese American community and of urban life in hiroshima prior to the 1945 atomic bombing of the city. More than 16,000 people have viewed the online exhibition, scholarly essays, photo galleries, short documentary videos produced by janm's award-winning watase media arts center, and associated educational resources. Meanwhile, janm's hapa.me 15 years of the hapa project, was on view at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon in portland from may-august 2023.janm made substantial progress on the new core exhibition, in the future we call now, developing themes and selecting objects that reflect a reimagined approach to the interpretation and presentation of the Japanese American experience. The new core exhibition will be installed in renovated public galleries on the first floor.the Museum's permanent collection was augmented with the accession of eighty-three donation offers, ranging from paintings by tokio ueyama and matsumi (mike) kanemitsu to a broad collection of dance bid invites printed and used during the incarceration, which were featured in the exhibition don't fence me in. The digitization of janm's collection was significantly expanded with the addition of several important digitized collections bringing the total number of named collections available online to forty-seven.

Public programs, marketing and communications, and the Museum storepublic programswith a wide range of talks, films, performances, and hands-on activities, janm's dynamic year of public programs provided numerous ways to tell Japanese American stories to visitors of all ages and backgrounds, and to include these stories in the larger conservation about racial and social justice. Book club events highlighted book launches and conversations with authors and film screenings about activism, history, and culture included the world premiere of the rediscovered silent film the oath and the sword, restored through the work of janm and the george eastman house, at the academy Museum of motion pictures. Popular programs about scouting and swing dancing made important connections between the stories of survivors of the incarceration and today's youth in connection with the exhibition don't fence me in. Janm's 2023 oshogatsu family festival, the first in-person festival since the covid-19 pandemic, attracted 6,000 visitors of all ages, while the natsumatsuri family festival in august was enjoyed by some 3,000 guests. Janm's programming on the road included screenings of the watase media arts center's films benkyodo and sincerely mine okubo at film festivals in san francisco, austin, chicago, and seattle. As presenting partner of story boldly's defining courage National tour, janm brought the moving tales of world war ii Japanese American soldiers to audiences in honolulu, irvine, and los angeles in fy2023. Discover nikkeidiscover nikkei continues to enhance janm's digital presence and expand its brand on a National and international level by providing content that celebrates cultural diversity and explores global and local identities.the discover nikkei website received 585,000 unique visitors during fiscal year 2023, of which approximately 49% were in the key 1834 demographic. The discover nikkei team continued work on a multi-year project to enhance the capability, content, and relevance of the site, funded by a generous grant from the nippon foundation. Janm storethe janm store's public hours returned to normal in fy2023, and with catalog and online sales remaining strong, store revenue increased by 20% over the previous year.

Educationjanm was able to restore its education capacity to the pre-pandemic level in january 2023, and as a result the number of students served by education programs onsite more than tripled over the previous year. Nearly 10,700 k12 students, college students, and adults experienced janm's educational programming in person at the Museum. Virtual school visits remain a vital global and National educational resource, serving an additional 1,783 people in eight states. The education department provided valuable professional development opportunities for some 800 educators in twenty states through both in-person and virtual workshops. The july 2022 landmarks of American history and culture workshop, funded by the National endowment for the humanities, brought k12 educators from across the county to engage with topics and themes in k12 humanities within the historic and cultural significance of little tokyo. Similarly, a virtual smithsonian learning lab, viewed by more than 500 people, provided guidance teaching the Japanese American world war ii experience through primary sources. A virtual program aimed at corporate deia programs, piloted in fy2023, will further extend the reach of janm's educational impact into the private sector.

Fundraising janm raised over $5.4 million in contributions in fy2023, and reached a new level of membership participation with more than 7,000 households. Janm was awarded grants totalling $5.6 million in fy2023. On may 13, 2023, the Museum held its annual benefit and online auction at which it raised $1,2 million in gross revenue. In addition to the benefit, the Museum hosted six members-only events, closing out the fiscal year with a lively opening celebration for the exhibition glenn kaino: aki's market.