Yakima Valley Museum with Japanese American Exhibit

This Yakima Valley Museum, located in Yakima’s beautiful Franklin Park, offers historical exhibits on the Yakima Valley its natural history, Plateau cultural objects, pioneer life, early city life, and the roots and development of the Valley’s fruit industry. The museum has a superb collection of horse-drawn vehicles, from stagecoach to hearse; an historical exhibit and reconstruction of the Washington D.C. office of former Yakima resident and environmentalist, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas; and a changing schedule of special exhibitions.

A new permanent exhibit, “Land of Joy and Sorrow: The Japanese Experience in the Yakima Valley,” was dedicated at the Yakima Valley Museum on Aug. 24, 2023.

• The exhibit tells the story of the Japanese American community in the Yakima Valley, from their arrival in the late 19th century to their internment during World War II and their return and rebuilding in the postwar years.
• The exhibit was developed thanks in large part to the efforts of Patti Hirahara, a descendant of Japanese American pioneers in the Yakima Valley.
• The museum is located at 2105 Tieton Dr., Yakima, WA 98902. Regular museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $5 for children ages 6 to 18, free for members and for children 5 and under, $18 for families.

• The exhibit is the second of its kind at the museum, following a successful 10-year run of the exhibit 'Japanese Pioneers of the Yakima Valley.'
 The attendance at the dedication of the new exhibit surpassed the attendance at the dedication of the original exhibit.
• The museum received a Washington State Museum award for the original exhibit.
• The Japanese pioneers came to the Yakima Valley in the late 19th century and grew to a Japanese community of 1,018 people involved in farming and providing services and lodging for the Yakima Valley community.
• After the war, only 10% of the Japanese American community returned.