The Japanese American National Museum Essays - Issei,

The Japanese American National Museum The Japanese American National Museum The Japanese American National Museum is an organization that contributes to the Japanese American community in numerous ways. Since it is a museum, it offers historical information and many services to both the Japanese American and non-Japanese community about the role that Japanese played in American history. It is an active organization that interacts with the surrounding community, as well as with other organizations and programs worldwide and an organization that serves to the public with exhibits, programs, and publications that explore the changing role of Japanese Americans. However, the history and the presence of the museum itself is significant because it is an establishment that serves as a landmark for people of Japanese ancestry, a compilation of a reflection of America, and a memorial for all the suffering that the Issei and Nisei have endured. THE MUSEUM'S HISTORY The Japanese American National Museum began with the idea from a businessman and a war veteran. These individuals wanted to preserve the Japanese American's contributions to California and the United States history. Therefore, Bruce Kaji and two war veterans: Colonel Young Oak Kim and Y.B. Mayima decided in 1982 to erect a national museum in honor of the Japanese Americans. Their purpose was to inform the City of Los Angeles and the world that the Japanese American was an integral aspect in shaping California and the United States. The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to make known the Japanese American experience as an integral part of our nation's heritage in order to improve understanding and appreciation for America's ethnic and cultural diversity." The difficult task to building the museum was money. This non-profit endeavor required funding from many different sources. In the following years of 1982, California and the city of Los Angeles began donating money in support of the museum. The city of Los Angeles, under the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) agreed to match the donation from the State Legislature. Therefore, the State Legislature approved a $750,000 donation toward the museum and in return the CRA agreed to donate $ 1 million in 1985. For the museum, this funding was jus the beginning. Fundraisers and donations were organized to bring the idea to a reality. Money was not the only item that needed to be donated. The museum wanted to preserve the Japanese American artifacts, documents, lost letters, furniture, and photographs into the museum. The museum needed a permanent building so the museum planners decided to have an old Buddhist temple as the home of the museum. The building they decided on was the first Buddhist Temple built in Los Angeles in 1925. The building was the abandoned Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. In the late 1980's donations were abundant, "Dozens of volunteers answered phones and gingerly unwrapped donated objects, ranging from old kimonos to immigration documents and bundles of faded letters." One of the many employees of the museum is Akemi Kikumura Ph.D. She was hired by the museum to further facilitate the search for Japanese American memorabilia and materials. In 1986, Los Angeles decided to graciously award the museum a lease of one dollar per year for fifty years. The city also decided to award the museum and a section of North First Street as a historic cultural monument. Other private companies and institutions began to recognize the museum project as a growing vision. Some contributors include the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The volunteer board for the museum decided to tour the country in search of filling the remaining positions of the museum. The volunteer board went to places like Illinois, Texas, Idaho, and other states. The members wanted contribution from a national level. Therefore, they hired individuals that had experience in ethnic studies and that had a passion to provide a service to their community. Along with employing people from across the country, the museum had aspirations to further enhance the exposure of the Japanese American history by expanding and creating a new pavilion that would house more artifacts from the Japanese American community. During the 1990s, the museum took on several significant changes. Along with the establishment of the temple as the museum, members, part of the museum, hired Japanese American architects, David Kikuchi, Yoshi Nishimoto, Frank Sata, and Robert Uyeda, to renovate the buildings. In addition to the building's restoration process, the museum also hired James T. McElwain to assure that the buildings have their own unique and historic features. Not only were buildings renovated, its interior design was also completely redone since the museum needed new systems installed. For example,