The JA Experience - Website & Video Series

The JAExperience.org is a long-needed update to our printed curriculum guide, The Japanese American Experience. Rather than a traditional reprint, we are excited to bring the Japanese American Experience into the modern age with a fully fledged website! 

Alongside the new website, we're also introducing the Japanese American Experience Video Series! Thanks to the Takahashi Family Foundation, we'll be publishing a series of ten short videos spanning the history of the Japanese American community. The series will be available on the JA Experience Website, and each video will be narrated by a community member and feature archival footage and photos. 

30th Anniversary Screening of "Picture Bride" hosted by The Repertory Screenings Forum and Greater Los Angeles JACL

The Repertory Screenings Forum and Greater Los Angeles JACL are co-sponsoring a special one-time benefit screening of the award-winning 1995 movie “Picture Bride”.

The screening will take place from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the 700-seat Gardena Cinema, located at 14948 Crenshaw Blvd. in Gardena, Calif. Built in 1946, the vintage Gardena Cinema is one of Los Angeles County’s last remaining independently owned, standalone movie houses. Tickets may be purchased online using the link below.

A portion of the proceeds from the screening will benefit Pacific Citizen, the 96-year-old newspaper of the Japanese American Citizens League.

From the PC: "Cruisning J-Town" Article - Exhibit Closes December 14

In Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, the Japanese American National Museum opened on July 31 a special exhibit titled “Cruising J-Town,” about the history and culture of the automobile, its influence on Japanese Americans, and the community’s unique contributions to car culture in Southern California.

‘Cruising J-Town’ is free and open to the public Wednesdays-Sundays from Noon-5 p.m. through Dec. 14 at the Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery at ArtCenter College of Design. For more details on special events and other resources related to the exhibit, visit www.janm.org/exhibits/cruising-j-town

Call for 2026 Day of Remembrance Events!

As we're coming up on Day of Remembrance, JACL is once again asking all of our chapters and supporters to send us information on any events that you know of so that we can share it with the wider membership and Japanese American community! 

Please send any information you have on your DOR events, including date(s), times, any website/social links, and images/flyers you might have! We'll continually update the listing, so if you currently only have some information and are still waiting on more, send us what you have, and we can update the event page. The event page and calendar will be made available later. 

Send any program information you have to Education Programs Manager, Matthew Weisbly at mweisbly@jacl.org

Salt Lake City JACL Oral History Project!

We want to hear from you! Japanese Americans are not a monolith. We each have unique family histories and stories to share. Help us preserve the legacy of Japanese Americans in Utah and highlight the rich history and diversity of our community.

Please email Kelly Asao at kellyasao@gmail.com to participate in our oral history project!

December 6: JACL Detroit Chapter Mochitsuki!

December 6: Monterey JACL Mochi Making

December 7: JACL DC Chapter Mochitsuki

December 9: What does it mean to be Japanese American? Hosted by San Diego JACL

December 13/14: SELANOCO JACL Mochitsuki

January 10: Florin JACL - Sacramento Valley 90th Anniversary Luncheon

Feb 19-22: JACL Arizona Chapter - Gila River Connections: A Celebration of Shared History

A landmark community gathering, “Gila River Connections: A Celebration of Shared History,” will take place in Chandler, Arizona, from February 19-22, 2026. This vital event will bring together Japanese American WWII camp survivors, their descendants, members of the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), students, and allies to honor the intertwined histories of the two communities.

2026 Minoru Yasui Student Contest

Tsuru for Solidarity is Hiring! Director of Operations and Community Organizer 

Tsuru for Solidarity’s mission is to educate, advocate, and protest to close all detention sites; build solidarity with other communities of color that have experienced forced removal, detention, deportation, separation of families, and other forms of racial and state violence; coordinate intergenerational, cross-community healing circles addressing the trauma of our shared histories. Tsuru for Solidarity is a program of Community Initiatives.