Japanese American National Museum - A Bit of the East in the Western World

The city of Pasadena in Los Angeles California is much like the rest of the trendy state and is hailed as the City of Roses. In an attempt to consolidate the city’s ties with its Japanese inhabitants the Japanese American National Museum was opened almost two decades ago.
Located in ‘Little Tokyo’ where a large number of immigrant Japanese and their descendants reside, the museum is a hallmark of Japanese culture and traditions in the US. The links between the two countries for the last 130 years or so are captured in the artifacts, images, movie clips, art, textiles and documents in the museum. The highlight of the museum is the moving picture archive which displays dozens of home movies of Japanese Americans who lived in the mid parts of the 20th century.
Currently the museum has three exhibits; one to demonstrate ‘Ikebana’ the traditional Japanese flower arrangement art, one to portray the earliest immigrants and their details and the third contains paintings of Mike Shinoda, the well known singer and artist of Japanese descent. Occasionally the museum also conducts workshops to educate people on preparing Japanese cuisine.
A fairly recent addition to the museum is the Hirasaki National Resource Centre, which provides information on the Eastern immigrants and their culture, heritage and history. The museum and its staff also strive to resolve issues that arise between racial groups, through programs such as ‘Enduring Communities’. It focuses on educating the public about diversity of races and the democracy they deserve.
All are welcome at the Japanese American National Museum, which is just one among a vast array of tourist spots in the area, and a Pasadena hotel would be a welcoming retreat for any languid soul to revive themselves. The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa Pasadena is quite an enticer in the region as its comforts and relaxing massages are some of the most popular among Los Angeles hotels.