Located in historic San Jose Japantown, the Japanese American Resource Center's goal is to preserve the Japanese American culture of the Santa Clara Valley through the collection of artifacts, art and documents. The center began as a committee of the San Jose Japanese American Citizen's League, then in 1987, after becoming an independent organization, founded J.A.R.C. Along with the founding of the organization, they also began a museum. Presently, the museum has three exhibit rooms occupying the first floor of the Issei Memorial Building, which are changed periodically. Exhibits have included: the history of Japanese Americans in San Jose's Japantown; and the Japanese American experience in the Internment Camps which included actual artifacts. To expand cultural understanding, the Japanese American Resource Center has also organized various events, programs and workshops. This included working with the Jewish community on an exhibition and presentation on the Liberation of Dachau by Japanese American soldiers of the 552nd Field Artillery Battery. They have also continually worked with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on the collecting of oral histories of the Issei (first generation Japanese Americans)and held a workshop, "Turning Leaves" to help others collect their family histories. J.A.R.C. provided the Japanese American History Curriculum package for the public schools in the area and consulting for museums and publications. The Japanese American Resource Center also has a number of fundraisers which include dinners with an educational emphasis, with themes such as "A League of Our Own: Nikkei Sports Before the War" and "Welcome to Our Neighborhoods," which looked at the various Japanese American pre-war farming communities in San Jose. They have also sponsored the Japantown Winter Arts and Crafts Fair in the San Jose Buddhist Church, a bazaar in which a number of vendors sell various Japanese American crafts, clothes, etc. Membership if open to anyone interested, please contact the phone number or address above.
Carolyn Jung, "Museum Opens to Chronicle Japantown Life : Display Shows Success of Early Immigrants to San Jose", San Jose Mercury News, Friday, 7, October, 1994, Morning Final Edition, Local Sec., p. 1BErin Kimura
