Japanese American Museum of Oregon

06/17/2026

Take a deep dive into Ohara Ikebana with this 4-part intro class at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon!

If you are looking for a creative summer activity, we've got you covered:

Diane Sayrizi of the Ohara School of Ikebana will be back to lead this 4-part class in the museum’s library. Participants will learn foundational principles such as form construction, cutting techniques, and material selection, then work on an Ikebana arrangement from the materials provided during each class.

This is an intimate setting limited to only 5 students - wonderful for beginners and those who are looking for one-on-one instruction.

The series will take place over four Saturdays from 10am to 12pm. Registration requires attendance at all four classes:

Saturday, July 18th
Saturday, July 25th
Saturday, August 1st
Saturday, August 8th

Participants will learn foundational principles such as form construction, cutting techniques, material selection and how these apply to their own arrangements. Using the established guides, participants will engage in making an ikebana arrangement from the materials provided during each class.

Flower and plant materials are included in the cost, and there will be containers and kenzan available for you to use. You only need to bring your own pruning shears/ikebana scissors and your creative self!

Learn more and sign up: https://jamo.org/event/ikebana-intro/

06/15/2026

Summer kimono sale!

Ahead of Obon season, we will be selling secondhand kimono at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon on Saturday, June 20, from 11am-2pm.

Come visit and enjoy FREE ADMISSION to the museum while shopping!

There are plenty of kimono left over from the Cherry Blossom Bazaar—some never even made it out to the floor. Come by to check out the overstock.

Since the museum is open for free on that day, admission tickets are not reservable online. Just come on by!

Learn more: jamo.org/kimono-sale

06/12/2026

🥵 Feeling the heat? Looking for a place to cool down? 🥶

Come by for the final weekend of Minidoka on Our Minds at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon!

Enjoy JAMO's air conditioning and learn about the community advocacy behind the establishment of the Minidoka National Historic Site. You'll see artwork made by survivors, descendants, and others along with the history of the camp and the larger community effort for healing and reconciliation.

Sunday, June 14, is the last day to see Minidoka on Our Minds. The museum will be open Friday and Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday 11am-4pm.

Learn more and get tickets at jamo.org/minidoka.

Images
1. The Minidoka National Historic Site, courtesy the National Park Service/Stan Honda
2. Minidoka on Our Minds Poster, artwork courtesy Eugene Tagawa, Erin Shigaki, and Marie Okuma Johnston
3. Shell brooches from the Ouchida Family Collection
4. Exhibition view, artwork by Mira Nakashima
5. and 6. Exhibition view
7. Japanese American Incarceration Hanafuda Cards (detail), artwork by Marie Okuma Johnston

06/10/2026

This year, the Honouliuli National Historic Site offered guided tours of the park for the first time. Public response to this announcement was so strong that all the 2026 tours have now been booked! You can see below for info on plans for 2027 tours and a call for more volunteers.

Honouliuli National Historic Site tells the story of incarceration, martial law, and prisoners of war in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The incarceration site, opened in 1943, was the largest and longest used incarceration site in Hawaiʻi where U.S. residents and citizens of Japanese and European ancestry were unjustly detained. The camp also held over 4,000 prisoners of war from Okinawa, Korea, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

Learn more about their tours here: https://www.nps.gov/hono/planyourvisit/public-tour-information.htm

The Honouliuli NHS team has been overwhelmed by the amount of attention, support, and excitement the opening of tours brought the past couple days. The desire to visit the park by our community is not going unnoticed by us!

While we are sorry to announce that 2026 tours are full and understand there may be some disappointment, please stay tuned as we hope to announce the 2027 tour dates near the end of this year. We hope to increase the number of tours given in 2027 as our team of volunteers grow!

Waitlists are still open. Please check our website's Public Tour Information page to see updated approximate numbers of our waitlists: https://www.nps.gov/hono/planyourvisit/public-tour-information.htm

Even if you were unable to make it to a tour this year, we hope that we will see all of you at our many community events for the 80 Years of Closure Commemoration as well as table events in our community. Keep following our page to learn about these events and where our team will be around the island chain in 2026.

Mahalo nui loa for all the aloha, love, and support for our small park.

Photo courtesy of Hawaii's Plantation Village

06/09/2026

The Japanese American Museum of Oregon is proud to announce Standing for Justice: The Japanese Americans Shaping Oregon, on view June 27-October 25, 2026.

While the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, we look to the Japanese Americans of Oregon who have embodied democratic ideals. These are Oregonians who stood up in the face of injustice to take action, helping to build a better world for all of us.

This year is also the 50th anniversary of the termination of Executive Order 9066. In reflecting on these milestones, what does democracy mean when it is denied, challenged, and ultimately restored?

In this exhibition, we look to the examples of Elisa Dozono, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Lynn Nakamoto, Bill Naito, Minoru Yasui, and Mari Watanabe, and many others, as well as the causes that the Japanese American community has rallied behind.

Celebrate these change makers with us through October 25!

Learn more about the exhibition and upcoming programming at at jamo.org/standing-for-justice.

Friends of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon are invited to join us for an exhibition reception on Friday, June 26, from 5-7pm. RSVP at jamo.org/standing-for-justice-reception/.

Standing for Justice is generously supported by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation; the Lamb-Baldwin Foundation; a grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department; and the Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation.

06/06/2026

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Evelyn Iritani will be coming to Portland June 13 to talk about her new book, Safe Passage! Join us at the new Japanese American Museum of Oregon Annex for her conversation with historian Linda Tamura.

The book tells the story of the exchange of civilians between Japan and the U.S. during World War II, when nearly 1500 allied civilians were trapped in Asia.

Faced with too few Japanese civilians to trade, the United States rounded up Japanese from Latin America, often against their will, while Japanese Americans held in U.S. camps and prisons were forced to choose between expulsion to a war zone or an uncertain future behind barbed wire.

We're so excited to host this renowned journalist and to learn more about this piece of the Japanese American World War II experience.

Evelyn Iritani – Safe Passage
In conversation with historian Linda Tamura
Saturday, June 13 at 1:00pm
431 NW Flanders St., Portland
RSVP and learn more: jamo.org/safe-passage

Evelyn Iritani Author, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

06/05/2026

Incarcerated at Minidoka, Sh*tsuka and Shigeta Ouchida and their four children lived in a small barrack there that came equipped with just a stove, army cots, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The couple took up craft making to create a more cheerful living environment for their family. Some of the pieces they created, along with the supplies they used, are featured in the Japanese American Museum of Oregon’s current exhibition, Minidoka on Our Minds.

The carved white horse and rooster in the exhibition display Shigeta’s woodworking skills. While he focused mainly on carved wooden animals, his wife Sh*tsuka made jewelry from shells, ribbons, and bits of metal—you can see some of her shell brooches in the exhibition. After the war, the Ouchida’s did not continue making their crafts, but they did hold on to the crafts and tools they brough back from Minidoka. Hideo and his wife Rita donated the items to JAMO in 2022, when it became the largest single donation of camp art in the collection.

Don't miss your last chance to view these pieces in the Minidoka on Our Minds exhibition, on view now through June 14 at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon. Learn more at jamo.org/Minidoka.

Images:
1. Shell brooches made by Sh*tsuka Ouchida.
2. White horse carved by Shigeta Ouchida.
3. and 4. Supplies and shells that were used by the Ouchidas while they were incarcerated at Minidoka.
All collection items gifted in memory of the Ouchida Family.
5. Rita Ouchida with her nephew Franklin Ouchida in the Minidoka on Our Minds exhibition at the end of May.

06/03/2026

This coming Sunday, stop by the Japanese American Museum of Oregon for free admission and art making!

Inspired by the woodblock prints made at Minidoka, come make your own using everyday, DIY materials. You can see the woodblock prints that are in the current exhibition, Minidoka on Our Minds. Then head back to the museum's library to make your own prints.

All ages welcome and encouraged!

Free First Sunday at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon
Sunday, June 7, 11am-4pm
411 NW Flanders St., Portland
Entrance on NW 4th Ave.

June Free Sunday is generously sponsored by Anne Naito-Campbell & Oregon Rises Above Hate.

Woodblock print images gift of the Komachi Family Collection.

06/02/2026

This event always sells out quickly, so don't wait to register! Register now: https://japanamericasocietyoforegon.wildapricot.org/event-6705737

Japanese Beer Garden brings the energy of a traditional summer street festival in Japan right here to Oregon! Enjoy delicious Japanese foods, paired with cold beer from Asahi Super Dry and Level Beer.

日本の夏祭りの雰囲気をそのまま再現した人気イベント、JASOビアガーデン！

焼きそばや餃子などの屋台メニューに加え、冷たいビール（Asahiスーパードライ・Level IPA）をご用意しております。日本の夏を感じながら、職場の同僚やご友人と楽しいひとときをお過ごしください。

当日券の販売はございません。
チケットは毎年完売となりますので、お早めのご購入をおすすめいたします。

06/02/2026