Japanese American National Museum
The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience.
As the national repository of Japanese American history, JANM creates groundbreaking historical and arts exhibitions, educational public programs, award-winning documentaries, and innovative curriculum that illuminate the stories and the rich cultural heritage of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States. JANM also speaks out when diversity, individual dignity and social justice are undermined, vigilantly sharing the hard-fought lessons accrued from this history. Its underlying purpose is to transform lives, create a more just America and, ultimately, a better world.
Japanese American National Museum's collections
Little Tokyo: Images and Objects from the JANM Collection
<p>This collection includes select objects and images of Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California from the permanent collection at the Japanese American National Museum. This Learning Lab collection gives insight into community life in Little Tokyo prior to WWII, the process of forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII, and the return to Little Tokyo post-war. </p>
<p>This Learning Lab collection was created by Maya Muwanga, a student in the summer 2022 Summer Affiliate Digital Learning and Engagement Internship, in partnership with Emerson Collective and the Japanese American National Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate based in Los Angeles, California. #SAIntern<br></p>
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Japanese American Incarceration - Focus on the Temporary Detention Centers
<p>After the Civilian Exclusion Orders were issued for Japanese Americans, many families were temporarily held in detention centers that the government referred to as "assembly centers." There were 15 of these centers and they were often at fairgrounds or racetracks where buildings already existed. Families lived in horse stalls or other makeshift housing before being moved to one of the more permanent concentration camps. The average stay was for about 3 months. Through an examination of art and artifacts, this collection takes a closer look at the experience of Japanese Americans being forcibly removed from their homes and quickly moved to these temporary detention centers. #APA2018 #EthnicStudies</p>
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All That We Carry With Us: The Sakamoto-Sasano Collection
<p>This learning lab revisits the Sakamoto-Sasano family collection held at JANM as a pathway into understanding Japanese American history as well as larger themes related to U.S. history and historical inquiry. The collection contains documents, objects, and ephemera from the Sakamoto-Sasano family. The belongings of matriarch Taye Sakamoto Sasano, her sister Chiyoko Sakamoto Takahashi, and her two daughters Louise Sasano Yoshida and Frances Sasano make up the bulk of the collection. Yearbooks, school notebooks, scrapbooks, diaries, and notes from friends characterize Frances and Louise's lives as teens and young adults experiencing incarceration during World War II. Photos, citizenship documents, business cards, and letters characterize lives of familial support and financial success and after being released from camp. </p>
<p>This Learning Lab collection was created by Maya Muwanga, a student in the summer 2022 Summer Affiliate Digital Learning and Engagement Internship, in partnership with Emerson Collective and the Japanese American National Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate based in Los Angeles, California. </p>
<p>#SAintern</p>
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Documenting History: Photography and Japanese American Incarceration During WWII
<p>In this collection, students will critically analyze photographs depicting the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Students will analyze two photographs: the first by photographer Clem Albers, who was one of several photographers commissioned by the War Relocation Authority to document the process of forced removal and incarceration; the second, a photograph by Mori Shimada, taken in 1942-1943 while Shimada and his family were forcibly incarcerated in Heart Mountain, Wyoming. </p>
<p>Also included are resources further contextualizing the photographs including articles, lesson plans, a 1943 Office of War Information film, additional photographs from the War Relocation Authority, and other photographs taken by Japanese Americans while forcibly incarcerated during WWII.</p>
<p>#APA2018</p>
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Document Analysis: Civilian Exclusion Order and Japanese American Incarceration During WWII
<p>In this collection, students will carefully analyze and dissect a Civilian Exclusion Order for euphemistic language, misleading descriptions, and questionable instructions. This order was one of many posted by the United States government in 1942 in neighborhoods all along the West Coast to notify Japanese and Japanese American residents that they would be removed from their homes. The order also gave families instructions to follow.</p>
<p>Also included are resources further contextualizing the Civilian Exclusion Order including photographs, all three pages of Executive Order 9066, lesson plans created by the Japanese American National Museum, and blog posts written by Education staff at the Japanese American National Museum.</p>
<p>#APA2018<br /></p>
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Resources List: Japanese American Experience
<p>This collection includes resources presented at the October 20, 2018 Educator Workshop at the Japanese American National Museum. Included are resources from the Japanese American National Museum, other resources surrounding the Japanese American experience, and other useful APA resources.</p>
<p>#APA2018 <br /></p>
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American Teen: Experiencing America's Concentration Camps Through the Lens of a Teenager
<p>An exploration of America's concentration camps from the perspective of a teenage Stanley Hayami, through text entries and illustrations in his diary, which he consistently maintained while detained at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Stanley Hayami, along with 120,000 other Japanese-Americans on the West Coast, were forcibly removed from their homes and, without due process of the law, imprisoned in ten concentration camps across America. This Learning Lab explores the experiences of Stanley Hayami, a teenager who kept a detailed diary of his time in the camp.</p>
<p>This Learning Lab collection was created by Carter Sun, a student in the summer 2022 Summer Affiliate Digital Learning and Engagement Internship, in partnership with Emerson Collective and the Japanese American National Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate based in Los Angeles, California. </p>
<p>#SAintern</p>
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