Japanese American National Museum

Exhibitions, curatorial/collectionsjanm made substantial progress on the new core exhibition, the Museum's top programmatic priority, in fy 22. Through the coordinated efforts of the janm curatorial team, the exhibition design firm ralph appelbaum and associates, and consulting architects hok, the exhibition's schematic design was substantially completed in fy 22. The new exhibition, which will be installed in renovated public galleries on the first floor, will reflect a reimagined approach to the interpretation and presentation of the Japanese American experience.after the pandemic closures for most of fy 21, janm reengaged with the public through five dynamic temporary exhibitions in fy 22. A life in pieces: the diary and letters of stanley hayami, which opened early in fy 22, showcased hayami's writings from the heart mountain concentration camp, where he and his family were incarcerated, and from the battlefields of europe after he joined the u.s. army. The exhibition included an interactive, 360-degree virtual reality experience as well as his artwork, journal entries, and personal artifacts. The second exhibition, min okubo's masterpiece: the art of citizen 13660, celebrated the 75th anniversary of citizen 13660, the first book-length account on the u.s. Concentration camps from the perspective of a former incarceree. The third exhibition, sutra and bible: faith and the Japanese American world war ii incarceration, was co-presented by janm and the university of southern California's shinso ito center for Japanese religions and culture. The exhibition explored the many ways that the buddhist and christian communities provided refuge, instilled hope, and taught compassion as Japanese americans survived behind barbed wire, under martial law, and on the battlefield.sacred objects both from janm's collection and on loan from other institutions were displayed for the first time. The fourth exhibition was behere / 1942: a new lens on the Japanese American incarceration. The exhibit mobilizes a variety of media forms, including augmented reality (ar), and invites visitors to engage in new ways with this dark historical moment. It is complemented by a groundbreaking public ar installation in the plaza between the Museum's pavilion and the historic nishi hongwanji buddhist temple, janm's oldest artifact. The exhibition was presented in collaboration with the yanai initiative for globalizing Japanese humanities at ucla and waseda university, tokyo.the final exhibition janm premiered this year is irei: National monument for the wwii Japanese American incarceration, a collaboration with the university of southern California and supported by the mellon foundation's monuments project. A multi-faceted project that addresses the erasure of the identities of individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration, irei expands the concept of what a monument is. The centerpiece is a book of names, the ireicho, that for the first time records the names of the over 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in 75 confinement sites during world war ii. Survivors and their families are invited to make a pilgrimage to janm to stamp their names in what amounts to an act of healing and repair.the reduction in pandemic-related restrictions allowed janm to once again continue its National outreach through traveling exhibitions. During fy 22, tatau: marks of polynesia was exhibited at the bishop Museum in honolulu, hawai'iHawaii'i, and contested histories: art and artifacts from the allen hendershott eaton collection traveled to the isamu noguchi foundation and garden Museum in new york.the Museum's permanent collection was augmented with the accession of 84 donation offers, and the content management database and web-publishing platform were significantly expanded with the digitization of over 8,000 documents and artifacts.

Public programs, marketing and communications, and storepublic programswith great resourcefulness, public programs produced over 60 programs that balanced in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. Janm's 2022 oshogatsu family festival was streamed live on youtube and experienced by over 500 people. The 2022 natsumatsuri festival, the first post-lockdown, in-person family festival, attracted over 3,000 people. Janm continued to present programs that situate Japanese American stories within a larger conversation about racial and social justice. Examples include the speaker panel entitled "uprising: reflections on '92," which addressed the racial tensions of the 1992 los angeles riots; the lgbtq+ allyship symposium; and the youth theater performance of the play when yuri met malcolm.discover nikkeidiscover nikkei continues to enhance janm's digital presence and expand janm's 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 520,672 unique visitors during fiscal year 2022, of which approximately 48 percent were in the key 1834 demographic. During 2022, the discover nikkei team began work on a multi-year project to enhance the capability and content of the site, funded by a generous grant from the nippon foundation. Janm storeafter being closed for over two years due to the pandemic, the janm store was reconfigured to align with covid-19 protocols (including social distancing and low-touch protocols) and opened for on-site shopping in april 2022. As a result of combining both on-line and in-store options, sales exceeded the prior year's sales by over 70 percent during the three-month period ending june 30, 2022. The opening of behere / 1942 in may 2022 and many special events during asian American pacific islander heritage month contributed to this increase in sales volume.

Educationjanm's educational programming expanded its reach considerably by offering both virtual and in-person learning opportunities. The virtual school visits continue to serve as a vital global and National educational resource as more states pass mandates declaring asian American pacific islander history to be a required part of the k12 curriculum. As of july 2022, seven states had passed such legislation. Janm was able to serve students in 16 states. The education department hosted a virtual educator workshop, "teaching the Japanese American wwii experience through art," that included teachers from across the country. They also undertook the planning for a second, in-person workshop that was held in early fy 23 and funded by the National endowment for the humanities's landmarks of American history program.

Membershipthe development department raised over $5.6 million in fy 22. Membership revenue was $0.7 million, the impact of 6,253 active members and 228 upgrades in membership. Janm was awarded grants totalling $1.2 million in fy 22. The Museum hosted a successful 30th anniversary benefit on april 30, 2022, the first such large-scale in-person event since 2019. It generated approximately $1.2 million in gross revenue. At the benefit, the Museum honored thirty changemakers under thirty for their extraordinary contributions to advancing janm's mission through the arts, business, culture, education, politics, sports, and technology. In addition to the benefit, the Museum hosted ten membership events, including three vip exhibition openings and seven member-only events.