They Call Us Crusing J-Town

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.

What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome our old friend Oliver Wang, professor of sociology, curator for the Japanese American National Museum exhibition Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, and author/editor of the exhibition's companion book. We talk about the rich history of Japanese American car culture in Los Angeles, its significance in shaping community identity, the impact of urban development, the surprising gamesmanship involved in street racing, and the complex tapestry of stories still waiting to be uncovered in Asian American history. Oliver also shares some of his research on an important question: why is "Bizarre Love Triangle" the unofficial anthem for Asian Americans (of a certain age)?

Sacred Book Honors Japanese Americans Incarcerated During World War II

The Ireichō is on display at the Japanese American National Museum.



Over the weekend in Los Angeles, the Japanese American National Museum invited the public to view and sign the Ireichō, a sacred book that records -- for the first time ever -- the names of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in U.S. Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority camps during World War II.

Visitors were invited to view the names and use a special Japanese hanko to leave a mark for each person in the Ireichō as a way to honor those incarcerated during World War II. Community participation will "activate" it and rectify the historical record by correcting misspelled names or revealing names that may have been omitted from the record.

The Ireichō will be on display at JANM for one year. A companion virtual monument is available online.

More here: 'There’s our family name': Sacred book honors Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII

RISE: Help Us Celebrate the Release of Our Book

Friday, March 4 at the Japanese American National Museum


If you're in Los Angeles, I invite you to help us celebrate the publication of RISE: A Pop History of Asian America From the Nineties to Now, the book I wrote with Jeff Yang and Philip Wang. It's been a long road getting this book to the finish line, but at long last, you can hold it in your grubby hands and read the dang thing.

RISE Is a love letter to our community, chronicling the ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, personalitis and ideas that have shaped who we our today. Through intimiate recollections, exclusive interviews, graphic essays, annotated illustrations and more -- thanks, in part, to an amazing squad of contributors -- we assembled a chronicle of the last three decades of Asian America that we hope will inspire delight, nostalgia and exploration.

Please join us Friday, March 4 at the Japanese American National Museum for a book talk, signing and reception with me, Jeff, Philip and a bunch of a amazing folks who made this book possible.

Building the Asian American Movement: Then and Now

Friday, July 12 at the Japanese American National Museum.



If you're in Los Angeles, check out this cool panel discussion, Building the Asian American Movement: Then and Now happening next week in Little Tokyo, co-presented by Visual Communications and the Japanese American National Museum...

Take a cross-generational look at the challenges and opportunities Asian American communities face as they continue to grow and engage in political action. Hear from a panel of Asian American activists who span the 1970s to the present. Learn about what motivated them to become politically charged and find what out what they believe it means to be an activist in today’s world and what issues continue to spur activism. The panelists have deep experience in student organizing, anti-gentrification campaigns, immigrant worker organizing, and other political campaigns.

Speakers include Sophia Cheng, immigrant workers organizer and lecturer at UCLA Asian American Studies Program; Tiffany Do, education and housing advocate; Frances Hyunh, tenant organizer with Chinatown Community for Equitable Development; Florante Ibanez, veteran organizer in the Filipino American community and lecturer in Asian American Studies at Pasadena City College; Miya Iwataki, veteran organizer in the Japanese American community around health care and redress/reparations and women’s issues; Sandy Maeshiro, veteran organizer with The Storefront in Seinan/Crenshaw and educational advocate; Jonathan Paik, Executive Director of the Korean Resource Center in Orange County and political empowerment organizer.

It's happening Friday, July 12 at the Tateuchi Democracy Forum. For further information, and to RSVP, go here.

At First Light: The Dawning of Asian Pacific America

May 25 - October 20, 2019 at the Japanese American National Museum.



If you're in Los Angeles, check out this exhibit opening this weekend at the Japanese American National Museum. At First Light: The Dawning of Asian Pacific America is a multi-media exhibition that explores and celebrates the emergence of a politically defined Asian Pacific American consciousness and identity.

The exhibition chronicles the transformation of the un-American categorization of “Oriental” to the political identity of "Asian Pacific American" that rejected racist stereotypes, stood up for human rights, recovered lost histories, and created new cultural expressions. The exhibition draws from hundreds of thousands of photographs and more than 100 videos in the collections of VC, the first Asian Pacific American media organization in the country, which formed in Los Angeles in 1970 to capture and cultivate the newfound unity that was Asian Pacific America. In the present-day climate of xenophobia and racial profiling, At First Light seeks to strengthen current resistance and resolve by evoking the legacy of Asian Pacific American activism.

At First Light: The Dawning of Asian Pacific America opens on Saturday, May 25 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. For further information about the exhibition, go here.

When art from internment camps falls into the right hands

"Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection" goes on view.



From the Los Angeles Times: A collection of artworks and other artifacts from Japanese American internment camps made headlines in spring 2015 when protesters successfully steered these pieces of American history away from the auction block, where they could have fallen into private hands. The protesters' goal: Put the pieces on public exhibition instead.

Mission accomplished. On Sunday, every item in the collection (or digital representations of them) will go on view at the Japanese American National Museum’s Hirasaki National Resource Center in Los Angeles. Titled "Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection," the exhibition includes more than 450 paintings, photographs, sculptures, pieces of jewelry and other objects made by hand in camps where about 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II.

More here: Contested art and artifacts from Japanese American internment camps go on view

Asian American ComiCon Summit on Art, Action & the Future

Saturday, July 15 at the Japanese American National Museum



What's up, fanboys and fangirls? If you are in Southern California, the Japanese American National Museum invites you to AACC: The Asian American Comicon Summit on Art, Action & The Future.

In a time where diversity and creativity are both under attack, this summit will feature diverse creators talking about where we're going next -- folks like Jeff Yang (CNN, They Call Us Bruce), Sarah Kuhn (Heroine Complex), LaToya Morgan (writer, Into the Badlands), Lewis Tan (Marvel's Iron Fist), and Keith Chow (The Nerds of Color). The program will include a special live recording of our podcast They Call Us Bruce, featuring a conversation with pioneering actor and activist George Takei.

The summit will also see the unveiling of New Frontiers, a brand new graphic anthology of original stories inspired by George Takei's life and legacy -- stories about incarceration and exclusion, representation and resistance, the digital world, and the struggle in the streets. AACC will include an Artists' Alley where leading comics creators will be available for commissions and signings.

It's happening Saturday, July 15 at the Japanese American National Museum. Here are more details:

Serve the People: Author Discussion and Activist Panel

Saturday, June 18 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles



If you're in Los Angeles this weekend, you are invited to join an author discussion and activist panel on the Asian American Movement, led by Karen L. Ishizuka, author of Serve the People: Making Asian American in the Long Sixties, featuring Warren T. Furutani, Mike Murase, Qris Yamashita and traci kato-kiriyama. It's happening Saturday, June 18 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

Here are some more details about the event:

National Youth Summit on Japanese American Incarceration in World War II

Join the conversation on Tuesday, May 17, 2016.



The Japanese American National Museum will host the National Youth Summit on Japanese American Incarceration in World War II, an online outreach program organized by the museum in partnership with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The event will link middle and high school students from across the country in a webcast centered on the Japanese American incarceration and its lessons for today.

It's happening Tuesday, May 17 at 1:00-2:00pm ET. Here are some more details:

Asian American Child Actors Panel Discussion

Thursday, May 19 at the Japanese American National Museum



What's it like to be an Asian American kid working in television today? In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Japanese American National Museum invites you an Asian American Child Actors Panel Discussion featuring Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, and Ian Chen of Fresh Off the Boat and Ashley Liao of the Netflix original series Fuller House.

It's happening Thursday, May 19 at the Japanese American National Museum. Here are some more details:

2016 Los Angeles Community Day of Remembrance

Saturday, February 20 at the Japanese American National Museum



If you are in Southern California, the Japanese American National Museum invites you to join them for the 2016 Los Angeles Community Day of Remembrance, the annual commemoration of President Franklin Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forcible removal and incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II.

In light of recent events, this year's Day of Remembrance program will focus on Islamophobia and the backlash Muslim Americans have faced following terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, exploring parallels between the experiences of those groups and that of Japanese Americans during World War II.

It's happening Saturday, February 20 at the Japanese American National Museum. Here are more details:

10th Anniversary Screening: Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Thursday, February 4 at the Japanese American National Museum.



Los Angeles movie fans, mark your calendars. Next month, the Big Trouble in Little Tokyo film series presents a special 10th anniversary screening of 2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, followed by a discussion with the cast and crew. Revisit the film expanded the Fast universe and brought Justin Lin to the blockbuster franchise. It's happening Thursday, February 4 at the Japanese American National Museum.

Here are some more details:

Celebrating Bruce Lee: An Intimate Evening with Shannon Lee & Diana Lee Inosanto

Sunday, November 15 at the Japanese American National Museum



Bruce Lee fans! If you are in Los Angeles, Visual Communications invites you to a unique celebration of Bruce Lee's 75th Birthday. Join us for a screening of the documentary In His Own Words, then sit in on an intimate conversation with Bruce's daughter Shannon Lee and his god-daughter Diana Lee Inosanto, followed by a celebration with live performances, special guests, a silent auction, food and beverages and more. It's happening Sunday, November 15 at the Japanese American National Museum.

Here are some more details about the event:

Grace Lee's 'Off The Menu: Asian America' - L.A. Premiere

Sunday, October 25 at the Japanese American National Museum


Grace Lee's 'Off The Menu: Asian America'
If you're in Los Angeles, Visual Communications and the Japanese American National Museum invite to the L.A. premiere of Off The Menu: Asian America. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Grace Lee, the documentary is an exploration of food in changing communities, families traditions and faiths.

The documentary follows Grace as she travels around the country, from Houston to New York's Lower East Side, and from Oak Creek, Wisconsin to Oahu, seeking stories that reflect an evolving Asian Pacific America and the role food plays in people's lives. This is not your average food travelogue.

It's happening Sunday, October 25 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. The evening will also feature a post-screening conversation, moderated by writer and sociologist Oliver Wang, with folks from the city's culinary scene, including Chef Minh Pham of Porridge+Puffs, food writer Christine Chiao, scholar Karen Tongson, and Youa Yang of Yang Farms.

Here are some more details about the screening:

Giant Robot Biennale 4

October 11, 2015 - January 24, 2016 at the Japanese American National Museum



Hey, Los Angeles! The Japanese American National Museum invites you to Giant Robot Biennale 4, its fourth exhibition in collaboration with Giant Robot founder Eric Nakamura. This edition of the popular series will examine the evolution of the Giant Robot aesthetic from its humble origins in drawing to its many celebrated manifestations in painting, installation, muralism and photography.

Biennale 4 will kick off with a free opening celebration this Saturday, October 10, featuring live and deejay music, food, and a no-host bar. The exhibition will run through January 24, 2016.

Here's a list of the participating artists:

'Dr. Ken' Sneak Preview Community Screening

Thursday, September 24 at the Japanese American National Museum



Hey, TV watchers! If you're in the Los Angeles area, join us this Thursday, for a special sneak preview community screening of the new ABC comedy Dr. Ken, presented by the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition. Watch the pilot episode then stick around for a panel discussion with stars Ken Jeong and Suzy Nakamura. It's happening Thursday, September 24 at the Japanese American National Museum.

Here are some more details about the event:

JANM Summer Night Concerts featuring Magnetic North & Taiyo Na, Marie Digby and Priska

FREE! Thursday, July 30 on the JANM Plaza



If you're in Los Angeles, and wanna get down with some good tunes on a Thursday night, head over to Little Tokyo for the Japanese American National Museum's new free summer evening concert series, JANM Summer Night Concerts featuring Magnetic North & Taiyo Na, Marie Digby and Priska. There will also be food trucks and stuff. It's happening Thursday, July 30 on the JANM Plaza.

Here are the details:

A Conversation with the Mountain Brothers

Thursday, May 14 at the Japanese American National Museum



This is for you LA hip hop fans... Next Thursday in Little Tokyo, join in on an intimate conversation with the legendary Mountain Brothers, the first Asian American hip hop act to sign with a major label. Chops (Scott Jung), Peril-L (Christopher Wang), and Styles Infinite (Steve Wei) sit down with moderator Oliver Wang, associate professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach, to share about their pioneering journey. It's happening May 14 at the Japanese American National Museum.

Here are some more details about the event:

Big Trouble in Little Tokyo presents 'The Curse of Quon Gwon'

Wednesday, May 13 at the Japanese American National Museum



Los Angeles film fans! Make some plans to experience a unique piece of cinema history. "Big Trouble in Little Tokyo" presents The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West, a silent black and white film directed by Marion Wong. Produced circa 1916-17, The Curse of Quon Gwon is the earliest known film by an Asian American director, and one of the earliest works directed by a woman.

The evening will include a screening of the film, plus a talk with Mai-Lon Gittelsohn and Dr. Greg Mark, descendants of the film's star Violet Wong, and filmmaker Arthur Dong, who facilitated the restoration of the only known remaining portions of the historic film by the Academy Film Archive. It's happening Wednesday, May 13 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

Here are some more details about the event:

Japanese American National Museum to acquire internment artifacts from canceled auction

Collection features artwork produced by incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II.


Oil on canvas by Estelle Peck Ishigo.
The Japanese American National Museum announced that it has acquired a collection of more than 400 pieces of historical art and artifacts created by Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. Plans for the items to be put up for public auction were canceled after widespread community outcry.

Japanese American Museum Acquires Internee Artifacts

The museum worked through Rago Arts and Auction Center in New Jersey and the consignor to acquire the private collection, which includes painting, sculptures and photographs produced by Japanese Americans who were forcibly moved into internment campus during the war. Actor/activist (and museum board trustee) George Takei reportedly was instrumental in convincing the auction house not to go forward with the sale.