Japanese American National Museum
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE MISSION OF THE JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM (JANM) IS TO PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF AMERICA'S ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY BY SHARING THE JAPANESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
- Income
- $12.2 million
- Spending
- $12.4 million
- Spent on programs
- 68%
- Reserves
- 15.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 72%
- Employees
- 97
- Volunteers
- 189
- Highest pay
- $272,989, president/ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 78 out of 100. Higher than 53% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 15.3 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 2% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 2% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 41% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1568% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 15 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 34% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2521 of 22 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $5.1 million spent. EXHIBITIONS AND COLLECTIONSJANM EXTENDED THE POPULAR EXHIBITION GIANT ROBOT BIENNALE 5, WHICH CELEBRATED ASIAN AMERICAN POP CULTURE AND ART, THROUGH THE FALL. JANM'S COMMITMENT TO PRESERVING, HONORING, AND ILLUMINATING THE STORIES OF THE WORLD WAR II INCARCERATION WAS EXEMPLIFIED IN CONTESTED HISTORIES: PRESERVING AND SHARING A COMMUNITY COLLECTION, WHICH REVEALED NEW, CROWDSOURCED RESEARCH ABOUT THE IMPORTANT EATON COLLECTION OF ART AND ARTIFACTS MADE IN AMERICA'S CONCENTRATION CAMPS. TWO POP-UP EXHIBITIONS CELEBRATED JANM'S LITTLE TOKYO COMMUNITY: CELEBRATING LITTLE TOKYO AT 140 YEARS HIGHLIGHTED THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S HISTORY THROUGH ITEMS FROM JANM'S COLLECTION, WHILE MARIO GERSHOM REYES: OBRAS DE LUZ (WORKS OF LIGHT) HONORED THE COMMUNITY-BASED WORK OF THE BELOVED RAFU SHIMPO PHOTOGRAPHER. JANM'S NATIONALLY TOURING EXHIBITION PICTURES OF BELONGING, WHICH INVITES VIEWERS TO REDISCOVER THE WORK OF THREE TRAILBLAZING WOMEN - MIKI HAYAKAWA, HISAKO HIBI, AND MINE OKUBO - CONTINUED TO THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM, WHERE IT WAS MET WITH CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND SOME 800,000 VISITORS. THE JANM-ORGANIZED EXHIBITION JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORY AND ART FROM JANM'S COLLECTION TRAVELED TO THE FURUKAWA ART MUSEUM AND THE NAGOYA CITY CIVIC RECEPTION HOUSE IN JAPAN.JANM'S PERMANENT COLLECTION OF SOME 160,000 OBJECTS CONTINUED TO GROW WITH THE ACQUISITION OF SEVENTY-NINE COLLECTIONS IN FY2025, THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF OUR DONORS. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED NA OMI SHINTANI'S PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, 2014, A POWERFUL SCULPTURE OF A FLAG MADE FROM BARBED WIRE AND WOOD ORIGINALLY FROM BARRACKS AT TULE LAKE; THE "ENEMY ALIEN JACKET" ISSUED TO ITARU INA UPON HIS ARRIVAL AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INTERNMENT CAMP AT FT. LINCOLN IN BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA; AND A 1970S NATIONAL RICE-O-MAT MODEL SR10E RICE COOKER THAT REPRESENTS THE ARRIVAL OF JAPANESE PRODUCTS AND THE EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE POSTWAR PERIOD. THESE WORKS WILL BE FEATURED IN JANM'S NEW CORE EXHIBITION. OTHER WORKS TO BE FEATURED IN THE CORE EXHIBITION LIKE THE 1938 MONTEREY JACL FLAG AND THE HEART MOUNTAIN BARRACK, UNDERWENT MAJOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS THIS YEAR.THE IREICHO NATIONAL TOUR LAUNCHED AT THE US NAVY MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER AND THE SMITHSONIAN ON THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, AND BROUGHT THE MOVING MONUMENT THAT IS THE BOOK OF NAMES TO MANZANAR, AMACHE, JEROME-ROHWER, AND THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA IN FY2025.
- $1.9 million spent. EDUCATIONAFTER CONCLUDING THE FIRST HALF OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR WITH SCHOOL CHILDREN VISITING JANM IN-PERSON BEFORE IT CLOSED FOR RENOVATION, JANM'S EDUCATION TEAM TURNED TO VIRTUAL VISITS AND PILOTED A NEW, IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM THAT BROUGHT LESSONS OF JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORY TO MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CLASSROOMS AND ASSEMBLIES, OFTEN REACHING ENTIRE GRADES, IN SOME CASES, THE ENTIRE SCHOOL IN ONE DAY. THE MUSEUM REACHED 8,912 STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS IN 28 STATES IN FY2025. IN MAY 2025, THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES FUNDING FOR JANM'S ANNUAL LANDMARKS OF AMERICAN HISTORY TEACHER WORKSHOPS WAS TERMINATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY. BUT DISAPPOINTMENT SOON CHANGED TO ELATION AS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY STEPPED UP WITH DONATIONS TO BRING TEACHERS FROM ACROSS THE US TO JANM. THE SIXTY-FOUR TEACHERS ATTENDING THE WORKSHOPS IN FY2025 MET CAMP SURVIVORS AND TOURED LITTLE TOKYO AND MANZANAR, BRINGING BACK EXPERIENCES THAT WILL COLLECTIVELY REACH THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTY EVERY YEAR.
- $1.5 million spent. PUBLIC PROGRAMS, MARKETING, MEMBERSHIP AND COMMUNICATIONSJANM'S YEAR OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS RANGED FROM JANM BOOK CLUB EVENTS WITH AUTHORS LIKE GEORGE TAKEI AND GIANT ROBOT'S ERIC NAKAMURA TO COMMUNITY PROGRAMS CELEBRATING THE MANZANAR BASEBALL PROJECT, MUSICIAN JUNE KURAMOTO, AND EARTH DAY. JANM ALSO CELEBRATED SUMMER AND THE NEW YEAR WITH MORE THAN 6,300 PEOPLE AT THE MUSEUM'S FREE NATSUMATSURI AND OSHOGATSU FAMILY FESTIVALS. THE PROGRAM HONORING COMMON GROUND GAVE A MEANINGFUL FAREWELL TO THE CORE EXHIBITION, INVITING THE COMMUNITY TO SHARE THEIR STORIES. THE DEMOCRACY CENTER SERVED AS A VOTING CENTER FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS NOVEMBER, HOSTED THE SMITHSONIAN'S NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON RACE, AND PRESENTED A POP-UP OF MARK MOTHERSBAUGH'S AND BEATIE WOLFE'S PROJECT POSTCARDS FOR DEMOCRACY. THE SMITHSONIAN'S LONNIE G. BUNCH III SPOKE AT THE INAUGURAL IRENE HIRANO INOUYE DISTINGUISHED LECTURE - A PRESCIENT CONVERSATION THAT ADDRESSED THREATS FACING US MUSEUMS. FOR OUR FRAGILE DEMOCRACY: THE ROLE OF STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN UPHOLDING THE LAW IN TIMES OF CRISIS, ROB BONTA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND OTHER EXPERTS DISCUSSED LEGAL STRATEGIES TO COUNTER ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES. IN JULY 2024, THE DEMOCRACY CENTER WELCOMED THE INAUGURAL EIGHT RECIPIENTS OF THE WATANABE DEMOCRACY FELLOWSHIP, WHICH ADVANCES GLOBAL DEMOCRACY THROUGH A STRONG PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES, TO LOS ANGELES AND WASHINGTON, DC. JANM'S WATASE MEDIA ARTS CENTER (MAC) FURTHER EXTENDS JANM'S NATIONAL REACH THROUGH FILM. THIRD ACT, MAC DIRECTOR TADASHI NAKAMURA'S MOVING DOCUMENTARY, PREMIERED AS AN OFFICIAL SELECTION OF THE 2025 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. THE MAC AND PBS SOCAL PRODUCTION NOBUKO MIYAMOTO: A SONG IN MOVEMENT HAD ITS BROADCAST PREMIERE IN OCTOBER AND WON THE SPIRIT AWARD AT THE SILICON VALLEY ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL AND THE AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AT THE BOSTON ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since September 1985.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.