Japanese American National Museum

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Brief History
Economic Benefit to California
Cultural Benefits to California
Political Impacts
Challenges Encountered During the Establishment of the Museum
Personal perspective

Introduction

The Japanese American national Museum is a non profit organization that was established to preserve cultural heritage of the Japanese America. It was founded after the Second World War because of the suffering endured by the Japanese Americans in a land that was not theirs. The museum offers a collection of culture that offers 17 different perspectives of the Japanese living in Los Angela, Tokyo. The authors of the museum comprise of the staff, consultants, and scholars who put emphasis on multi-ethnic partnership in the process of planning and safeguarding of the museum.

The mission of the museum is to build communities by working in partnership or in teamwork on some of the projects that put more emphasizes on communal experiences which is the prototype in the museum that integrate the Japanese American with other ethnic groups. The experiences highlighted by the museum are war resentments, social turmoil, and ethnic food ways, among others. This paper gives a brief history of the museum including how it was founded and what led to its establishment. It also explores on the significance of the museum to California in terms of economic, politics and culture. It concludes by giving a personal perspective about the topic and how it relates to California.

Brief History

Higa, Karin, et al. The view from within: Japanese American Art from the internment camps, 1943-1945. Exhibition catalog. Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 1992.

According to Higa (6), the national museum was first opened in 1992, although the development process had taken quite some time. Its opening marked the end of the discrimination faced by Japanese Americans in the United States. It was established because of the incarceration of the 2nd world war when most people were discriminated on the basis of their races. It is based in Los Angeles, Tokyo and since its opening; it has been able to connect the Japanese American experience with national institutions and leaders. Initially, the National Museum was established for the purpose of recording Japanese American experiences. With time, this focus was changed to incorporate intragroup diversity not only within the American community, but also in Europe, Africa and other countries.

The national museum is the only national organization that is established for the purpose of sharing the experience of the Japanese with other ethnic groups. It was established in order to preserve the Japanese Americans’ heritage as well as their cultural identity. One of the hallmarks of the museum has been the strength of its human resources, that is, its leadership, volunteers and staff. The retention of a professional development firm and the hiring of professional staff early in the museum’s development represented a third major milestone.

Board of Trustees recognized that to move from a volunteer organization to a credible institution, a full-time staff with professional expertise was essential. The National Museum continued to retain fund-raising counsel throughout its first and second campaigns, as well as in the establishment of its current endowment campaign (Higa 12). The early and sustained involvement of volunteers and scholars has been essential to the National Museum’s foundation. Moreover, the transition of leadership and the recruitment of key national leaders represented a major milestone in the National Museum’s history.

Economic Benefit to California

Freeman W. Damon. A closer look at the Japanese American national Museum. University of Pennsylvania, 2001.

Freeman (2) observed that Museums and other cultural organizations have grown considerably in California in the past few years. They have now become the engines for economic growth as well as community development. The Japanese American National Museum has played a very great role in California not only in economic development, but also in its cultural development. One of its major contributions is the redevelopment of Little Tokyo. Part of the temple where the Museum is constructed and an immense area of the neighborhood had decayed in the early 1960s. Little Tokyo was created in 1880s and 1890s to accommodate the huge number of Japanese who immigrated to California. However, as the number of Nissei increased most of the Japanese moved into the suburbs because of congestion in Little Tokyo.

Fred, Taomae. “The Japanese influence on Southern California”, Nisei Week souvenir booklet, 1962, 14, Japanese American national Museum, Los Angeles, California.

According to Fred (25), the Japanese American National Museum can be named as one achievement in the history of California as a cultural organization. It has been able to retain some of the primary sources that are necessary in academic institutions. It also plays a big role in stirring visitors’ emotions that helps them to create a bigger interest in American history. The mission of the National Museum (preserving Japanese Americans culture) can not be fulfilled if people do not visit the Museum or if they do not remember the emotions stirred by the collections. As a result, the museum has attracted a big number of tourists thereby boasting the economic and cultural development of California

Through the recruitment of staff, the National Museum has created job opportunities for the Californians thereby reducing the unemployment rate. It has also led to development of infrastructure around little Tokyo because visitors have to use a mode of transport to get to the museum. Road transport around the area benefits from an increase in number of passengers as tourists visit the museum for historic information. These are just some of the economic benefit that California boosts off since the establishment of the National Museum. Moreover, the country’s GDP has been on the rise as the number of tourist increase. The museum has become one of the most favored sites by many tourists all over the world because of its diversity and huge number of information.

Cultural Benefits to California

Pauker, Emily. The Japanese American national Museum presents. Back Stage West, Feb 12, 2004, Vol 44, Issue 7, p11.

The museum is an archive that contains more than one hundred feet of 16 and 8 mm home movies of the Japanese covering the period 1920 to 1950s. It also contains a collection of artifacts, photographs, and textiles of the Japanese Americans. Even though most of the displays are focused on the incident of the 2nd world war, there are a number that are centered on the life of the Japanese Americans before and after the war. One such exhibit is the “For a Greener Tomorrow: Japanese American Gardeners in Southern California”. The exhibit is a survey of the contributions made by gardeners of the Japanese Americans accent after they were prevented from leasing land for farming in California in the early 20th century. There are more exhibits that survey the sufferings and struggles experienced by the Japanese Americans in a land that was not originally their own.

Just like other cultural organizations, the National Museum is aimed at attracting a large population of audience covering beyond its geographical base. For instance in 1993, the National School Project (NSP) was launched to enhance multicultural education in secondary schools. Most of the California teachers have benefited from this project through workshops, and training sessions where teachers from different geological locations come together for curriculum growth as well as networking. Through the Museum, teachers have been supported to travel to different trade fairs whereas many of its collections have been digitized for easy viewing. Teachers and students can now use the internet to search the Museum’s website online and view different collections that can be used in the classroom.

California has also benefited from a diversity of cultures. By studying the historical information in the museum teachers and scholars are able to understand the type of culture practiced by their forefathers. Some cultural activities have been preserved although others have been swept away. However, the museum provides a platform upon which people can learn and comprehend most of the historical activities by having first hand information. Furthermore, most of Japanese Americans were set away from the city during the war, although returned soon after the war. Little Tokyo was abandoned as people moved into the suburbs in the 1950s. The legacy of the Japanese American was soon endangered by business development.

As a result, the Japanese Americans resolved to rehabilitate the area and established a redevelopment project for little Tokyo. By 1986, they had been able to set up 13 buildings (the temple housing the Museum being one of them). Today, the National Museum does not only serve as a conservation site, but forms a superior society by bringing people from the surrounding area together. As a matter of facts, commercial developers around the area are required to give a certain percentage of the cost of building new projects for public art. As a result, the structures in the region of Little Tokyo have visual amenities that help in spreading the cultural legacy of the Japanese Americans. In a sense, the whole area at the moment acts as a museum.

Niiya, Brian. Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. New York: VNR AG, 1993.

Niiya (8) observed that, the Japanese American National Museum is an institution that not only contributes immensely to the Japanese community, but also to the surroundings. It is a museum that offers historical information and other services to the Japanese Americans and other communities on the role played by Japanese in shaping the American history. It is an organization that brings the surrounding together and also works with other organizations in the world in serving the public. The National Museum provides surroundings with exhibits and programs that survey on the role played by the Japanese Americans in the United States. According to him, the presence of the museum is significant since it serves as a landmark for the Japanese Americans and a monument for the suffering encountered by the Issei and Nissei community during the Second World War. Its establishment was an idea from two people; a war veteran and a businessman. The main reason behind its establishment was to preserve the contributions made by the Japanese Americans to the history California.

Political Impacts

Minako, maykovich K. Japanese American identity Dilemma (Tokyo: Weseda University Press, 1972), 86, and “Political Activation of Japanese American Youth”, Journal of social Issues 29, no. 2 (1973):171

The National Museum has had political influence in California. Through it, California has extended into a developed city. In the early years of the 20th century, the museum played an influential role in California politics. One of its major preoccupations was with Japanese immigrants. Moreover, Japanese American newspapers have played an important role in the Japanese American community from its beginnings to the present. For instance, Nichibei Shimbun was the most widely read Issei newspaper. The organization instructed its charges in the ways of American life, teaching such things as business skills and cooking. The organization also put out guidebooks for travel to California as well as the America-Bound News starting in 1906 (Minako 171).

Minako (172) further notes that the creation of memory on the scale envisioned by Nesei leaders went beyond the community’s resources. The extravagant dreams of reclaiming the community’s past, redeveloping its historical image, and securing its place in Southern California and the broader American society compromised the ability of Japanese Americans to define themselves and to withstand outside ethnic descriptions and prescriptions.

In 1999, the Japanese American National Museum embarked on a multifaceted initiative to explore and interpret the history of community life through the perspectives and experiences of the many different people who have lived there. Through it, many scholars and educators have been able to have first hand information on the history of the Japanese who lived in American long before the Second World War. It has played a big role in shaping the culture of California which is preserved in many communities. By allowing a variety of ethnic groups to visit the Museum, California has become one of the countries with a diversity of ethnic groups.

Challenges Encountered During the Establishment of the Museum

Watanabe, Teresa. Museum to finances; Japanese American institution is seeking broader support base. Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1, 2008, PE. 22

Watanabe (5) notes that, one of the challenges encountered during the establishment of the museum was money. Since it was to be a non-profit organization, funding was a major problem and had to come from diverse sources. Fortunately, the government of California and Los Angeles city agreed to support the project by donating large sums of money. Other well-wishers who wanted to bring the idea into reality donated their money and organized fundraising ceremonies and with this the project kinked off.

However, money was not the only constraint faced by the early founders. Since it was supposed to be a museum that contained the Japanese American artifacts and other documents, the museum had to be a permanent building. Through debate and consultation, the planners decided that the old Buddhist temple would serve as a good site for the museum and decided to build the building there.

During the official opening of the museum, it was announced that, the museum would help in promoting community-unity by offering historical information as well as education. To ensure that this is achieved, the museum employs a pool of competent staff that is able to educate and enlighten visitors about the history of the Japanese and its significance to the American history. In the building, there are more than 30 images of the early Japanese Americans in refugee camps including a display of ‘The heart Mountain Story’ (Niiya, 42).

Personal perspective

I chose to research on the Japanese American National Museum because of its significance to California. After carrying out a thorough survey of the topics that relates more to California, the Japanese American National Museum caught my attention. This is because it does not only reflect on the current status of the country, but on the historic events that has led to the current states. In my opinion, the National Museum can be considered as one of the cultural institutions that has had an immense impact on the economic and culture of California.

Through it, we are able to understand the results of the Second World War and what have been done to mitigate the negative consequences if such war occurs again. We are also able to understand that, Japanese Americans, as we know them today, had to go through difficulties and struggles before they were accepted in California. The establishment of the National Museum, somehow, marks the end of the suffering encountered by the early settlers especially the struggles of the war. Since its establishment, it led to economic growth and development in California the most contribution being the redevelopment of little Tokyo.

The National Museum has been able to fulfill the mission which led to its establishment; preservation of the Japanese American cultural heritage. They can now live freely in the countries without fears of being discriminated against by the American. A part from preserving Japanese American culture, the museum attracts a large number of tourists from many parts of the world. It has been able to bring together different ethnic communities to share cultural heritage of California. Many teachers and scholars can rely on the information found in this museum in their studies which boost their understanding of the cultural aspects of the Japanese Americans. Moreover, the museum employs a pool of competent staff who stirs visitors’ emotions.

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