Sharing and preserving Japanese American history and culture in Portland's Old Town neighborhood, where Japantown once thrived.

Upcoming Events
 

121 NW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR 97209
(503) 224-1458

Exhibit hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.
 

Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center is a focal point for the preservation and sharing of the history and culture of the Japanese American community. ONLC opened the doors to its new home in September, 2004. The museum now has a larger exhibit space, with exhibits that highlight Issei immigration and early life in Oregon, Nihonmachi (Japantown), and life after Executive Order 9066, including the Portland Assembly Center and contemporary Nikkei life. (photo courtesy Rich Iwasaki, 2004).

Admission is $3 for general public, free for Friends of the Legacy Center. Group tours, speaking engagements, and research appointments are available. To schedule or for more information, call 503-224-1458.

ONLC is located in the Merchant Hotel building built 1880-1885, and is of historical interest, being located in the oldest part of Portland in the heart of what was once Portland's Japantown (Nihonmachi) until World War Two. The building housed a laundry, bathhouse and barbershop run by Japanese families in the early years.

The Center has expanded storage for archives and historical artifacts, a community room for public meetings and programs, and an improved library. The new location has been made possible through the generosity of Naito Corporation, community contributors, corporate and business donors, and foundation grants. We invite you to visit us soon.

Events and Programs

Upcoming Activities:

Mochitsuki
Saturday, January 17, 2009
at PCC Sylvania
12000 SW 49th Avenue, Portland

Cultural Fair: 11:00am - 3:00pm
Mochitsuki Memories performances: 1:00pm and 3:15pm

Order your tickets for Mochitsuki Memories without a service charge through O.N.E. by contacting us by Tuesday, January 6. Be sure to specify the 1:00 or 3:15 show.

Phone: 503-224-1458

 

Oregon Reads 2009 Kick-Off at PSU

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Portland State University
Smith Memorial Union Ballroom, 3rd floor
Lauren Kessler at 11am & 7pm

What if everyone in Oregon read the same book? In celebration of Oregon's sesquicentennial birthday, the selection for Oregon Reads 2009 is Lauren Kessler's Stubborn Twig: Three Generations of a Japanese-American Family. Hear Lauren Kessler talk about her book on January 15 at Portland State University. This is the main event for Multnomah County Libraries Everybody Reads 2009 in partnership with the Portland State University Library and the PSU Department of English.
 

Exhibit Opening
Desert Sands
Photography by Emily Hanako Momohara
with art from internment camps
Saturday, January 24, 2009

Join us for a special reception for the artist, Emily Hanako Momohara, and the opening of a special exhibit of her photography series Desert Sands on Saturday, January 24, 2009, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. Artifacts made in internment camps will also be on exhibit.
 

Oregon Reads 2009
Stubborn Twig has been chosen as the featured book for Oregon Reads 2009, a statewide community reading project that will take place in nearly every public library in every county in Oregon next year. Stubborn Twig tells the story of one Japanese American family's century-long struggle to adjust, endure and ultimately triumph, spanning across Hood River, Portland, and Eugene. Bat 6, about a girls’ baseball game in post-WWII Oregon, by Virginia Euwer Wolff has also been selected for younger readers for the Oregon Sesquicentennial. Available for purchase at the Legacy Center and in our online gift shop.
 

Museum in a Suitcase
Our speakers will share the Japanese American experience in Oregon with your students by bringing exhibits (visual images and artifacts) in a suitcase to your classroom. The exhibits cover the following topics: immigration, life in Portland's Japantown, and the internment story. For more information, contact ONLC at 503-224-1458.
 

Current Exhibit:

Oregon Nisei Baseball: the Early Years
September 14, 2008 - January 11, 2009

ONLC 517 The Mikado baseball team, Portland, Oregon, ca. 1936.
Courtesy of John Murakami

(front row, left to right) Bill Oda, Jim Hongo, Nobi Sumida, George Somekawa, Bob Fukai, George Marumoto. (back row, left to right) John Murakami, George Yamaguchi, George Azumano, Ben Ito, Art Somekawa, Art Hirayama, Hood Shiogi, Salem Yagawa.

Become a Subscriber:

Friends of the Legacy Center
Your support will help to ensure that the history, art and culture of the Nikkei are preserved and shared with the community for generations to come.

Annual subscribers to ONLC receive free admission all year long, a subscription to our newsletter, invitations to openings and other special events, and 10% off all purchases in the gift shop. Additionally, our neighbors at The Monkey & the Rat are now offering a 5% discount in their shop for all Friends of the Legacy Center.

To get involved in these activities, please contact ONLC:

Phone: 503-224-1458