Japan Foundation Award 50th Anniversary Message

Congratulations to the Japan Foundation on commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards! On behalf of the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), we offer our gratitude to the Japan Foundation, and commend all of the past recipients who have made outstanding contributions to cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries.

JANM remains proud to be a recipient of the Japan Foundation Special Prize in 1999. As the national repository of Japanese American history, we promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity through the Japanese American experience. Last year, JANM celebrated our 30th anniversary of the opening of the Historic Building in 1992. It offered us a chance to reflect on all we accomplished in our first three decades, much of which was made possible through generous support from The Japan Foundation in support of our public programs, national conferences, and exhibitions including Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World; Under A Mushroom Cloud: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Atomic Bomb; and BeHere / 1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration.

Our founders promised that the Museum would stand as a beacon of civil rights to ensure that what happened to Japanese Americans in 1942 would never happen to any other group. Our campus and programs showcase how Japanese Americans’ lives, experiences, and culture intersect and resonate with the experiences of marginalized communities in the United States. Today, JANM is proudly re-committing to our promise: to shine the light of history to inform the present and to shape a more just future. We must tell powerful stories to demonstrate history’s relevance and urgency so that we never forget.

We also fondly recall that JANM’s inaugural Executive Director and President and CEO, Irene Hirano Inouye, received the Japan Foundation Award in 2012. In her time at JANM, the U.S.-Japan Council, and beyond, she made contributions over many years to foster ties between the people of the United States and Japan.

Congratulations and thank you again to the Japan Foundation, and to all of the fellow recipients for their work to foster international cultural exchange, appreciation, and acceptance. We look forward to the next 50 years!

Ann Burroughs
President & CEO
Japanese American National Museum

(Original text in English)

The Japan Foundation Awards / Special Prizes (1999)

(For your reference)
The Japan Foundation Awards (2012) Profile