Japanese American Museum Opens

A new museum in focusing on Japanese American immigrants who settled in the Silicon Valley region in the 19th century opened this weekend in San Jose’s Japantown.

The museum is curated by San Jose native, Jimi Yamaichi, who celebrates his 88th birthday later this month. He spent some of his young adult life in internment camp because of his ethnicity. He is widely regarded as the first-hand authority on internment and resettlement. He wants the museum to celebrate their historical past as Japanese people living in America as Japanese Americans and their journey from the mother country to the new country. Yamaichi has made this museum his labor of love – even building the displays with his own hands.

The Museum will serve to collect, preserve and share Japanese American art, history and culture with an emphasis on the Greater Bay Area.

The Japanese American Museum is the only one of its kind in Northern California.