The Japanese American Museum of San Jose, known as JAMsj, is at 535 N. Fifth St. in San Jose's Japantown. Its permanent and rotating exhibits cover early Japanese immigration, Japanese Americans' leadership in Santa Clara Valley agriculture, their incarceration during World War II, and how they rebuilt their lives in West Coast communities.

How it started

The museum was established in November 1987. It grew out of a 1984-86 research project on Japanese American farmers in the Santa Clara Valley that collected family histories, photographs and memoirs. That project produced a curriculum used by the San Jose Unified and East Side Union High School districts.

JAMsj began in an upstairs room of the Issei Memorial Building, the former Kuwabara Hospital. In 2002 it changed its name from the Japanese American Resource Center/Museum. It now occupies the site of the former residence of Dr. Tokio Ishikawa, two doors south on North Fifth Street. According to Wikipedia, the original museum building was demolished in 2008. The museum reopened in October 2010 after an expansion and now has more than 6,400 square feet of space.

Plan your visit

  • Hours: Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The museum is closed for several holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
  • Admission: $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and for students and educators. Members, children under 5, and active military and their families get in free.
  • Getting there: VTA light rail stops at the Japantown/Ayer station, and VTA bus lines 61 and 62 serve the area. The museum has limited parking, and there is metered and free street parking around Japantown.
  • Accessibility: The building is wheelchair accessible, and the lot has two ADA parking spaces.

Check jamsj.org before you go for current exhibits.