NEW YORK: An online museum introducing photographs and documents of Japanese and Japanese Americans in New York was launched to pass down their history to future generations.

The Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York opened with its website allowing visitors to view some 100 items that were collected through the cooperation of the US Library of Congress and ordinary citizens.

The materials are sorted out by category, such as politics, diplomacy, business and education, and explanations are available both in English and Japanese.

Among the posted items are a photograph showing the arrival of Japan’s first diplomatic mission to the United States in 1860 and a picture of Japanese pupils studying at a public school in New York in 1913.

Videos of Japanese and Japanese Americans active in New York as doctors, businessmen or in other professions talking about their life can also be seen.

The museum was established by the Japan History Council of New York, a group created in December last year by fifteen people, including a composer, a company president and a university professor.

One of the founders, Susan Onuma, president of the Japanese American Association of New York, expressed hope that the museum will help promote the understanding of Japanese and Japanese Americans.

The best way to confront discrimination and hate is to deepen mutual understanding through education and cultural exchange, she said.

The council aims to enhance the collection and establish a real-life museum in the future.

The digital museum can be accessed at https://www.historyofjapaneseinny.org/.