In this issue…

2016–2017 JANM Store Catalog, Usagi Yojimbo, New Books, and more!

It’s time again for a new JANM Museum Store Catalog. How quickly the season is upon us!

If you are a JANM member or signed up for our mailing list, you should be receiving your copy of the catalog any day now. We hope you enjoy perusing it and maybe even sharing it with your friends. Click here to see all of the new catalog collection.

Along with the usual recap of some of the popular items that have come into the store this year, the new catalog features a couple of exciting exclusives. Read on for details!

And remember, we are always just a phone call (888.769.5559) or a click away (janmstore.com) for all your holiday shopping needs!

Maria Kwong
Director of Retail Enterprises

NEW AND EXCLUSIVE

This distinctive item was created exclusively for JANM by NUNO, the innovative textile design group based in Japan. To celebrate our exhibition, Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami, NUNO produced a version of their beautiful Origami Pleat Scarf in JANM’s signature purple.

Origami Pleat Scarf in JANM’s signature purple

Check out this fantastic new t-shirt from artist Stan Sakai, creator of the Usagi Yojimbo graphic novel series. The image, which was created to accompany the story “Chanoyu,” appeared on the cover of Usagi Yojimbo No. 93 in April 2006. It was an almost wordless story in which the hero and his close friend and ally, Tomoe Ame, partake of a tea ceremony before he departs from Geishu province.

Part of the image can also be seen on our exclusive Usagi Yojimbo tea cup and mug. The t-shirt, however, reproduces the entire scene.

Usagi Yojimbo T-Shirt

Usagi Yojimbo Tea Cup

Usagi Yojimbo Mug

NEW IN BOOKS

Yonsei author Amy Kimoto-Kahn shows you how to put together a bowl of piping hot ramen in myriad ways with a choice of four soup bases, homemade or store-bought ramen noodles, and traditional or non-traditional ingredients.

Enjoy bowls of pork, chicken, and beef ramen, or branch out with seafood, vegetarian, and spicy soups. There are even recipes for cold ramen and a breakfast ramen with bacon and a poached egg. With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and mouthwatering photos, Simply Ramen will turn your kitchen into a ramen-ya for family and friends.

Simply Ramen: A Complete Course in Preparing Ramen Meals at Home

In this poignant collection of essays, Epitaph for a Peach author David Mas Masumoto gets ready to hand over his 80-acre organic farm to his daughter, Nikiko, after four decades of working the land. Masumoto reflects on topics as far-ranging as the art of pruning, climate change, and the prejudice his family faced during and after World War II.

These essays, whether humorous or heartbreaking, explore what it means to pass something on. Nikiko’s voice is present too, as she relates the myriad lessons she has learned from her father in preparation for running the farm as a queer mixed-race woman.

Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm

APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES

Our Geisha and the Fox bracelet is one of the most popular bracelets in the store. It is made of printed shrink plastic, which is quite strong, yet wonderfully lightweight. The bracelet’s beautiful Asian-inspired panels are linked together by brass jump rings, with a clasp designed to fit a wide range of wrist sizes. Also available as earrings.

Geisha and the Fox Bracelet

Geisha and the Fox Earrings

Walk like a ninja in these stealthy tabi socks. The separation of the toes in these traditional Japanese sandal socks is said to improve circulation of the blood; the toes on these socks are also hand-stitched.

Ninja Tabi Socks for Men

AT THE MUSEUM

Current Exhibition

Tatau: Marks of Polynesia

Through January 8, 2017

Tatau: Marks of Polynesia explores Samoan tattoo practice through photographs that showcase the work of traditional tatau masters alongside more contemporary manifestations of the art form. Curated by author and master tattoo artist Takahiro “Ryudaibori” Kitamura with photography by John Agcaoili, Tatau highlights the beauty of the Samoan tattoo tradition as well as its key role in the preservation and propagation of Samoan culture.

Visit janm.org/tatau for more information about the exhibition and related events.

See related merchandise at janmstore.com/tatau.

Upcoming Exhibition

OPENS SEPTEMBER 27

Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps During World War II

September 27, 2016 – January 8, 2017

Between 1942 and 1944, thousands of incarcerated Japanese Americans were moved from concentration camps to farm labor camps as a way to mitigate the wartime labor shortage. In the summer of 1942, Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer Russell Lee documented four such camps in Oregon and Idaho, capturing the laborers’ day-to-day lives in evocative detail. Uprooted presents a selection of those images, many of which have never before been exhibited.

Visit janm.org/uprooted for more information about the exhibition and related events.

This exhibition was organized by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission and funded in part by a grant from the US Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.

Photo (detail): Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF34-073809-E.

Upcoming Event

Clockwise from top: Willie Ito, Sam Mihara, Toshi Ito, Takashi Hoshizaki

Tateuchi Public Program Series
Memories of Five Nisei

Saturday, September 24 • 2 p.m.

FREE

Five second-generation Japanese Americans will share significant memories of their lives, with a focus on the World War II camp experience. The Nisei speakers, who are all in their 80s and 90s, will also compare their camp experiences with the present-day detention centers in Texas for Central American refugees.

Lead presenter Sam Mihara is a former executive at Boeing Company and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of the WWII imprisonment of Japanese Americans. His most recent work is a study of the immigrant detention facilities in Texas. Retired biologist Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki resisted the draft while he was in camp, and was subsequently sent to federal prison for three years. After his rights were restored, he joined the military and served in the Korean War to prove his loyalty to the US. Toshi Ito is the wife of James Ito, the leader of the agriculture team at Heart Mountain that developed the farms that produced food for all camp residents. Toshi’s father committed suicide as a direct result of racist treatment following WWII. Award-winning Disney animation artist Willie Ito is a well-known spokesperson for the Topaz prison camp for Nikkei, where he was incarcerated. Shig Yabu is the noted author of Hello Maggie, an illustrated book that tells the story of the magpie bird that he raised as a pet in camp. Yabu is now an executive at Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

For anyone interested in the subject of the mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII, this is an event that should not be missed.

The JANM Store has many books and DVDs about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

SUPPORT JANM

BECOME A MEMBER AND SAVE!

Become a JANM member and enjoy free general admission to the museum, discounts on workshops and other ticketed events, access to Members Only events, a 10% discount at the award-winning JANM Store and janmstore.com, plus 20% discounts during our two annual Member Appreciation Days. The next one will be November 25–27.

Join or renew now!

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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.

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