JAMjs to Celebrate 30th Anniversary

SAN JOSE — The Japanese American Museum of San Jose will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 12 p.m. at Hayes Mansion, 200 Edenvale Ave. in San Jose.

Master of ceremonies will be Mike Inouye of NBC Bay Area. San Jose Taiko and jazz singer Ayako Hosokawa will perform. The program includes lunch and a silent auction.

The cost is $125 per person, $1000 for table of eight. Register by Sept. 8. For more information, call (408) 294-3138, email info@jamsj.org or visit www.jamsj.org.

Established in November of 1987, JAMsj grew out of a 1984-86 research project on Japanese American farmers in the Santa Clara Valley. The farming project collected family histories, historical photographs, private memoirs and other unpublished documents and led to the development of a curriculum package on Japanese American history, which was adopted for use by the San Jose Unified and Eastside Union High School Districts.

JAMsj’s workshop on developing family histories provided documentary materials and photos included in the award-winning book “Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California’s Santa Clara Valley” (1985), co-authored by Timothy J. Lukes, Ph.D. and Gary Y. Okihiro, Ph.D.

The museum started in an upstairs room of the historic Issei Memorial Building, formerly the Kuwabara Hospital. In 2002, the name changed from Japanese American Resource Center/Museum (JARC/M) to Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) to better reflect the museum’s archival focus. JAMsj now occupies the former residence of Tokio Ishikawa, M.D. two doors south on North Fifth Street.

In October 2010, the museum reopened after an ambitious remodeling and expansion project. The museum now occupies over 6,400 square feet and allows JAMsj to display many more exhibit artifacts from its extensive collection and to present educational programs to the public.