Japanese American Museum of San Jose — Attraction in San Jose

Unfortunately we were unable to enter and experience this place due to a few things.

1. Their requirements for COVID regulations are abnormal in comparison to other museums in the area. They require proof of vaccination and booster to enter the facility, something that is not shared online and not common for someone to carry on their person at all times.

I assume this is because of the elderly staff, but its unfortunate as even though my family and I are vaccinated we were out of state visitors without a way to show vaccination status. Yet young children are not required to need proof, so is it an issue of protection for the elderly, if you are willing to let in unvaccinated children?

Something which the staff does not seem to understand that people don't just carry about proof of vaccination with them at all times, which leads me to my next issue.

2. I'm not sure why this decision was made, but the gentleman running the desk is so hard of hearing that even myself a fairly large and loud speaking man, was unable to communicate with him effectively due to his hearing deficiency. It took several times to communicate anything with this gentleman, and while I respect his knowledge of the museum, it might be best for someone else to work that space.

The conversation with him was confusing and frustrating to convey to staff that we are from out of town and looking to learn, but we were not carrying vaccine records with us.

This has all unfortunately created a less than great experience for us and at this point unless you are willing to carry vaccine records on you at all times, I can't recommend visiting here at this...

All the people who work here were very nice and it was a very interesting museum as a whole. However, I think the general public should know that although this place is advertised as being a display of "Japanese American art and culture, focusing on the Bay Area", it really is not. 50% of the entire museum goes into very great detail of the Japanese American internment camps and Japanese American military service during WWII, and the vast majority of the guided tour I took focused on the internment camps.

I have no problem with any of this and believe strongly that we need to remember our history to avoid future mistakes, but I was honestly expecting more actual art and culture with information about the local Japanese American community who contributed to it. About 25% of the Museum is that art and culture and 25% is about the Japanese Americans farmers with a large display of old farm equipment. The area about the internment camps is larger than the area about art and culture.

Overall, the tour of this museum killed any desire we had to walk around the rest of Japantown that day. So, we just went back the next weekend and avoided this museum. I think this is why I've been going to Japantown in San Jose for over 30 years and have never heard of this museum. It does not add to the experience of visiting Japantown in San Jose, but it is worth visiting.

Oh, it is also worth noting that as of March, 2023, this place still requires full medical grade face masks. It's very unusual today that any non-medical facility requires medical grade face masks (no cloth masks, N95...

great little museum in San Jose Japantown. in a modest space it covers the Japanese immigration experience from the late 1800s with focus on the WWII internment and military service (442/100 was the most decorated unit in US history) also has more history of the MIS Military Intelligence Service that I have seen. There are a great many displays of ORIGINAL artifacts from each era. There's plenty of narratives that explain each display along with video presentations. We carefully took in everything. There's a separate display outside in the back of everyday life and farming equipment from 1900 to 1940, including an original Ford Model T, farm truck and early tractors. There are also seasonal rotating displays. There's a recreation of an internment barracks and a summary display for each of the 10 interment camps. We saw where our parents were held: Rohwer, Poston, Topaz. took pictures of the display for Mom. We spent 3 hours there but a walkthrough can be done in a short time. Highly recommended, there's something for everyone as of July 2024 open Thursday to Sunday, 12:00PM - 4:00PM. Adults: $12 Seniors: $8 Students/Educators: $8 Children (under 5): Free

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