The Japanese American National Museum has announced that its newly renovated Pavilion in Little Tokyo will reopen on January 23, 2027. The Pavilion has been closed since January 6, 2025 for a comprehensive renovation delivered with Landmark PM as owner's representative and project manager. Beginning January 23, JANM will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Fridays, with school and group tours resuming March 1.
The transformation moves JANM's main entry to the building's sweeping curved glass facade, bringing visitors into the light-filled Aratani Central Hall and directly into 9,200 square feet of new first-floor galleries built for the all-new core exhibition, In the Future We Call Now: Realities of Racism, Forging Democracy. On the second floor, 5,500 square feet of reconfigured contiguous galleries open with the inaugural special exhibition Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo. The project also delivers a publicly accessible Hirasaki National Resource Center, the new Kosasa Education Center with two forty-five-seat classrooms, an improved visitor entry experience, and an upgraded HVAC system to preserve JANM's collection of more than 160,000 artifacts.
"JANM's reopening launches us into a new era, one that brings American stories to life and reflects the full richness of our shared history. We look forward to welcoming visitors from around the world to a Pavilion transformed by powerful storytelling, immersive installations, and new technology that connects the stories of the Japanese American community to the urgent issues facing all of us today."
JANM contracted exhibit design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates and consulting architects HOK for the renovation, with Sierra Pacific Constructors as general contractor and nFusion as exhibits fabricator. The renovation, the new core exhibition, and the Museum's long-term sustainability are funded by more than 33,000 donors to the Our Promise campaign, which surpassed its $85 million goal earlier this year.
"It's been a privilege to be on this journey with Alex Grosjean and Kaleena Klimeck, AIA of Landmark PM. We're almost there! And we couldn't have done it without you."