The National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. (NJAHS), is a 501 c (3) non-profit organization, incorporated in 1981, and dedicated to the collection, preservation, authentic interpretation, and sharing of historical information of the Japanese American experience for the diverse broader national and global community.
NJAHS strives to be a catalyst for change through cross cultural awareness– by learning from the past and influencing the future.
NJAHS’s headquarters is based in San Francisco with its core programs conducted at two sites: in San Francisco’s Japantown– 1684 Post Street -NJAHS Peace Gallery & Archives, a convenient storefront location along Japantown’s commercial corridor and in the Presidio of San Francisco -Building 640 – Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Historic Learning Center, 640 Old Mason Street, Crissy Field West, within the National Park Service- Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
A recent New York Times article identified NJAHS “as a source of Japantown’s dynamism and a model for the preservation and interpretation of a community’s history.”
Exhibitions: Since 1981, NJAHS has produced ground-breaking exhibitions both at its own galleries, as well as in partnership with larger venues such as The Oakland Museum of California, the Smithsonian Institution, the Bishop Museum, among others.
Public Programs: NJAHS presents an annual series of community events in partnership with others such as the Bay Area Day of Remembrance, Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage, Veterans Day, and hosts, workshops, film screenings, book releases, and public education programs at both sites and at community venues which integrate other interpretative activities including visual and performing arts.
Education: For both student to teacher, NJAHS offers educational resources, classroom lessons, field trip tours, and professional development training in the form of Teacher Institutes on location. Our place-based and historic inquiry teaching approaches have won accolades for their relevance for today.
Preservation: NJAHS holds an extensive Collection of Japanese American WW II military, incarceration camp, and pre-war ephemera. (10,000+). The collection is being digitized, preserved and made accessible with support from the National Park Service and the University of San Francisco. Over the years, NJAHS has worked to support historic preservation efforts that create long-term economic benefit for the community at-large.
