Nothing says “home” like familiar tastes. Throughout time and the Nikkei diaspora, immigrants have learned how to bring the flavors of home to the table through ingenuity and tenacity. In this interactive program, learn how early immigrant communities adapted traditional Japanese cooking in these new environments.

Join foodways scholar Valerie Matsumoto for a dive into JANM’s collection, early Japanese American food history, and how these food trends continue to the present day. JANM Director of Collections Management and Access, Kristen Hayashi, will share some items from the archives that highlight Japanese American resilience in the kitchen. Then, learn how to cook the staples of Japanese American cooking with cookbook author and designer, Azusa Oda, in an easy cooking demo and tutorial.

This program is part of the series “A Taste of Home,” supported by the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles.