Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles
My friends Erin and McKenna, visiting the museum with me ...
Coming of the Immigrants, Part of the permanent exhibition ...
Illusion and I Traveled over the ocean
Hunting money trees.
~Kijo
Wall of Suitcases and Trunks
by Hirokazu Kosaka
The importance of Hirokazu's work
Is that it recognizes that the most important things
Are sometimes the simplest.
The space between the heartbeats
And the suitcases that carries
More that people's belongings.
Suitcases, trunk, collection of the artist.
Re-created for "Common Ground," 1999
by Hirokazu Kosaka
The importance of Hirokazu's work
Is that it recognizes that the most important things
Are sometimes the simplest.
The space between the heartbeats
And the suitcases that carries
More that people's belongings.
Suitcases, trunk, collection of the artist.
Re-created for "Common Ground," 1999
Come, merchants!
America is a veritable human paradise,
the number one mine in the world.
Gold, silver, and gems are scattered on her streets.
If you can figure out a way of picking them up,
You'll become rich instantly to the tune of ten million
and be able to enjoy ultimate human pleasures.
~Kitare, Nihonjin Guide
The exhibition of the Japanese interment camps ...
There were 10 internment camps, (10,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans) during WWII, after the bombing of Pear Harbor. It's a terrible part of our shared American History. This is a reessembled barrack, is from one of the camps.
Here's a tour of the museum with George Takei.
After our trip to the Japanese American National Museum, which started with the Hello Kitty exhibition, we headed across the street into the Japanese Village Plaza to have some lunch! We had sushi at Maruya, where I'd never eaten before. It was yummy and our waiter was awesome!
McKenna having some miso!
After lunch? Mochi ice cream!!! Shortly after there were some serious Karaoke performers!
Mochi from Mikawaya. Aren't the colors beautiful!?
Mochi, if you've never had it, is ice cream on the inside and a thin sticky rice cake layer on the outside with a dusting of cornstarch so it's not super sticky when you are eating and when it's being formed. I think you can get it these days at Trader Joe's.
I had chocolate and green tea mochi!
Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the Japenese American Cultural and Community Center was closed, along with this great little coffee place and Ukulele shop, called U-Space!
I've been obsessing on learning to play the Uke lately. In part, I think, because I used to play the harp which a huge and hard to carry and takes forever to tune. On top of that, my great grandmother used to play for us!
Here's one of the instructors at U-Space, Jason Arimoto.
James Irvine Japanese Garden
Tuesday-Friday 10-5
Erin and McKenna ...
These photos were taken from above, looking down into the garden, because unfortunately it was closed. Something to return to!
Culture binds us,
gives us meaning
and provides us with foundation ...
it surrounds, entangles and supports our daily life,
a matter of learning "what it is we have to know:
to belong within a family and community.
~ David Mas Masumoto
We ended up walking over to The Last Bookstore. It was a little farther than I thought but they were happy to have gotten to see it!
An artwork that was being shown in the gallery area upstairs ...
States United (2010)
Gregory Beauchamp
Oil on Canvas
his easy site here
Leaving downtown ... The Disney Hall
and The Broad museum below, which opens in September of 2015!
Links
I'm off to the art store! Hope you enjoyed this little visit downtown to Little Tokyo!
Blessings and light!
