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Nihonmachi / Japantowns

（日本町）

ブラジリア大学根川幸男教授によるコラムシリーズ。ブラジルの日本人街の歴史と現在の様子について。
Issue devoted to an assessment of the impact urban renewal has had on the Japantowns of the United States' West Coast.
Describes legislative efforts to support preservation of historic Japantowns in California.
Website collaboration of Preserving California's Japantowns, sponsored by the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC), and "Birth of A Community - 100th Anniversary of San Francisco's Japantown" sponsored by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), with funding from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Project (CCLPEP).
"We would like to share our plans for Preserving California’s Japantowns, the first statewide project to document historic resources of pre-World War II Japantowns. We plan to highlight the vital economic and cultural contributions of various Japanese American communities to California’s history and landscape as our research unfolds."
Personal project to document the Japantowns of California, especially that of San Francisco. Includes annotated maps comparing San Francisco's Japantown in 1940 and 2000.
"The goal of the California Japantown historical landmark project entitled, “From Injustice to Redress” is to create a powerful and emotional permanent outdoor historic exhibit in each of the three remaining historic Japantowns in the State of California (San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles), which will capture the hopes and struggles of the Japanese American community. These exhibits will provide the millions of visitors to these remaining Japantowns, the opportunity to learn about and gain a better understanding of the history and challenges of the Japanese American community in California by viewing the actual sites where such activities and tragedies such a such as the forced mass evacuation and government initiated redevelopment has taken place."
This overview of the establishment of Asian American ethnic enclaves in the United States includes a section on Japantowns.
"Due to the overseas trading activities of the Shuin Sen, over 1,000 Japanese lived in Ayutthaya and Manila and Japantowns were built in many other trading cities as well. Japantowns and Japanese enclaves spread over the whole area of Southeast Asia such as Faifo (Vietnam), Ponhealeu (Cambodia), San Miguel (the Philippines), and Batavia, Amboina, Banda (Indonesia). It is said that there were up to 10,000 Japanese people living in various areas of Southeast Asia during this period of time."


Denver

"Sakura Square may be small, but it too serves as the hub for Denver's Japanese and Japanese American community. It was built in 1972 in a neighborhood where Japanese-owned businesses had thrived for decades since World War II."
"Simpson has served as the cultural and spiritual hub of Colorado's Japanese-American community for 100 years."

Liberdade (São Paulo)

Web travel site; offers contributions of "things to do" in the community of Liberdade, the largest Japanese enclave in São Paulo, Brazil.

Los Angeles


"Little Tokyo originated in 1886 when Charles Kame, an ex-seaman from Japan, opened a Japanese restaurant at 340 East First Street. By the turn of the century, a small Japanese immigrant community was already established around First and San Pedro Streets in Downtown Los Angeles. The area became known as Little Tokyo after the arrival of 2000 Japanese immigrants, recruited in northern California by Henry Huntington to lay tracks for the Pacific Electric Railway in 1903. The inhabitants were later joined by thousands more from San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake."

-- Los Angeles Convention Center, Downtown Guide
Gives a brief history of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district, as well as a guide to local businesses.
Historic profile of the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles. Includes demographic information about Japanese American communities in the U.S. from 1990 Census data.
Survey of the projects -- and processes -- undertaken in the Little Tokyo Redevelopment initiative from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Postcard showing the intersection of First St. and Central Ave. in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles (1930s)
Postcard showing the intersection of First St. and Central Ave. in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles (1930s)
This site, created by the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), documents all city-sponsored efforts to redevelop and sustain the Little Tokyo district, from 1970 to the anticipated conclusion in 2011.
Excerpt: "The principal thrust of the Little Tokyo Redevelopment Project is to reconstruct and preserve a mixed use, full service community that will continue to serve as the cultural, religious, social and commercial center of the Japanese American community in Southern California."
Six panoramic views of monuments in the Little Tokyo area.
Detailed checklist and documentation of the public artworks visible in the Little Tokyo area. Includes a historical background and extensive bibliography of works published through 1998.
1994 guide to the public artworks in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo, funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency/Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.
Documents 16 works of public art within the boundaries of Little Tokyo.
"Bronzeville in downtown Los Angeles existed for about three short years in the 1940s. The area known as Little Tokyo transformed into the African American enclave of Bronzeville during World War II after Japanese Americans were evicted from their West Coast homes and placed into United States confinement camps."
This website contains extensive articles and archival resources that document the transition of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district during and after World War II.
Briefly describes efforts to preserve and reopen the Far East Café, a Chinese restaurant in Little Tokyo that was shuttered as a result of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Home & Garden Television profiled the Far East Building, now being restored through the efforts of the Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation.
"The Linda Lea Theatre has been closed for nearly 30 years, but for its former patrons, memories of Sunday afternoons spent watching the latest samurai drama churned out by the Toei film company are as vivid as ever."
Reminiscences of growing up in and around Los Angeles' Japanese American community.
From the site's FAQ page: "Ties That Bind began as a conference held in 1998, which examined issues concerning the future of the Japanese American community. Over 400 Japanese Americans gathered from all over California to discuss what the future would mean for the community and its historic neighborhoods, and how to protect the future of Little Tokyo for generations to come. ... Ties That Bind 3 (TTB3) is a conference to discuss, strategize, and promote the goal of preserving and revitalizing Little Tokyo as an historic ethnic neighborhood for future generations of Nikkei and others to enjoy. Workshops, speakers, and community interaction will allow participants to celebrate Little Tokyo and be a part of a pioneering event that will address issues pertaining to preservation of our heritage."
May 2003 statement by the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress in opposition to the proposed construction of a new Los Angeles police headquarters in Little Tokyo.
Editorial decrying efforts, by the Los Angeles City Council, to build a new police headquarters in Little Tokyo.
"Hey, why not? After all, there is a rich L.A. civic tradition of shafting Japanese-Americans, especially on behalf of law enforcement expansion. Consider: when the Civic Center built eastward in 1948, a piece of Little Tokyo was "acquired" (read: filched) in order to build--you guessed it--a new police HQ! Right, the city razed two blocks of rich L.A. history and elbowed aside 1000 Japanese-Americans (who had just relocated after a few years relocating in WWII "relocation" camps) in order to build...Parker Center. Without so much as an arigato."
Reports the successful efforts by members of the Little Tokyo community to oppose construction of a proposed 512-bed jail on property adjacent to Little Tokyo's Hompa Hongwanji Temple.
"For me the decision on whether or not to build a Little Tokyo Recreation Center that would attract younger Japanese Americans is a no-brainer and a long time in coming. Young Japanese Americans need and want a place that speaks to them and reflects their sense of who they are. They need places to play basketball, have martial arts tournaments, take computer classes, and put on art festivals. They want a place where they can meet other young people and connect with their elders. Most of all, young people want an opportunity to have a space where they can realize their potential and feel a sense of connection to a history that is living and breathing and still in progress, not a history that is stuck in a museum collecting dust."
"A $6 million, six-court recreation center large enough to hold tournaments and house a senior program would inspire Japanese-Americans to regularly make the trip downtown, says Bill Watanabe, executive director of the nonprofit Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC). “People want to come here, there’s just nothing here for them.” Almost $1 million in state and federal dollars have already been set aside for the gym."
  • Little Tokyo Unplugged is a community wireless network that provides Wi-Fi Internet services to local residents, visitors, small businesses, and the nonprofit community. The website was developed in partnership with ExperienceLA.com to provide users with Little Tokyo content and information.
  • "The History of Japanese Restaurant in Little Tokyo". Sushi and Tofu, March 2007.
Historical review of restaurant culture in Little Tokyo, with emphasis on the evolution of restaurants since the 1950's, when the city pushed out much of the neighborhood's businesses to construct the new headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department.
"We thought that it might be a good idea to look back on the ups and downs of the cooking of Little Tokyo, which is the foundation of the boom in Japanese cuisine today."
Excerpt: "Many of Little Tokyo's major properties have changed hands to non-Japanese owners -- including the controversial sale in August of the New Otani Hotel and Gardens to a Beverly Hills-based real estate firm. Now the community's eyes are trained on the city's request for proposals to buy and develop its last large land parcel in the Little Tokyo area at 1st and Alameda streets, known as the Mangrove site. The competition, whose bid deadline is Friday, is seen as a major test of the area's future direction."


New York City

"Over the last century, St. Mark’s Pl. has gone from dangerous to hip to avant-garde to punk back to dangerous again. It has seen residents the likes of James Fenimore Cooper, W.H. Auden, Abbie Hoffman and Leon Trotsky and performers and artists such as Lou Reed, Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono. Now, the famed street and main thoroughfare into the East Village has cleaned up its act and grown into a new spot for a burgeoning Little Tokyo."

Novi

The Detroit Metropolitan region has emerged as one of the United States' largest Japanese communities, largely as a result of the influx of shin-issei in the mid-1980s as Japanese automobile manufacturers established manufacturing plants.

Portland (Oregon)

  • Lesson plan: Edna Kovacs, Ph.D. & Elizabeth Thiel, "Nihonmachi: Japan Town Remembered" (8th grade). Teaching American History (Portland State University)


Richmond (California)

Describes efforts to preserve remnants of several Japanese-American nurseries, dating to the early 20th century, that occupy land now under redevelopment by the Richmond Community Redevelopment Agency.
"Under management of the Richmond redevelopment agency, the sprawling grounds of the historic Oishi, Saki Nurseries have been regularly looted, vandalized and dumped on."
  • Chris Treadway, "Old nurseries deemed historic". Contra Costa Times, October 29, 2006. (Republished on the web site of Councilmember Tom Butt, of Richmond.)
Excerpt: "The Sakai nursery started in 1906 with an initial 2.5 acres in Richmond and a single greenhouse salvaged from Berkeley. The Oishi nursery started shortly after. Both grew as more land was acquired and more buildings were added, both shut down in 1942 during the World War II relocation of Japanese, and both resumed operations when the families returned after the war. Operations continued until fairly recently."


Salt Lake City

San Francisco

”サンフランシスコの日本町、ジャパンタウンといえばガイドブックにも載っている観光名所です。しかし、そのジャパンタウンの位置がこの100年と少しの間に3回も変っていることは意外と知られていません。”サンフランシスコの日本町の歴史について簡単に紹介。
Japantown Task Force, Inc. was created in the year 2001 in order to continue the work of the previous 50-member Japantown Planning, Preservation, and Development Task Force organization. Their web site includes an extensive history of San Francisco's Japantown. The "Studies" section contains comprehensive documentation of the San Francisco Japantown preservation effort authorized in 2001 by California's Senate Bill 307, including maps of Japantown from 1940, 1956-59, 1970, and 2004.
Issue devoted to an assessment of the role and function of the San Francisco Japantown before World War II.
"The Vapors may be long gone, but San Francisco's Nihonmachi, otherwise known as Japantown, still exists. The area, straddling the few blocks just north of Geary and south of Sutter, between Laguna and Fillmore, has shrunk somewhat from its pre-World War Two heyday. But about 12,000 residents of Japanese descent still call the neighborhood "home", which makes for a small but still-vibrant community, where even the local Denny's has a slightly Japanese feel."
"Nihonmachi, better known to most San Franciscans as Japantown, has been culturally and geographically in flux for more than 100 years. Today, Laguna, Fillmore, Geary and Sutter streets define its geographical center. The people of the past, present and future define its culture."
Profiles the Japantown Task Force and its efforts to preserve San Francisco's Japantown.
Describes the controversy caused by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency's approval of retail leases for a Starbuck's and a UPS Store in the area formerly home to the Japantown Bowl.
"Despite overwhelming community support to maintain the popular Japantown Bowl, Kintetsu Enterprises Co. of America — the ethnic enclave's largest land owner — stoically entered into a contract with Kuroyama Limited Liability Company (LLC), which wants to convert the 1790 Post St. site into a combined office/retail complex."
"Japanese Americans in San Francisco are on a mission: not only to revitalize the heart of the city’s Japantown but also to boost a sense of ownership among the increasingly diverse population."
"On its 100th anniversary, Japantown is up for sale. The heart of the neighborhood’s economic and cultural life, including a movie theater, two malls and two hotels, are being sold, prompting concerns over whether the already dwindling neighborhood will retain its character as one of the nation’s few remaining Japanese-American enclaves."


San Jose

Homepage of Japantown in San Jose. It includes event information in Japantown.
"The Japantown Neighborhood Association's mission is to encourage communication and cooperation between residents and businesses in the Japantown neighborhood; to serve as a voice and representative for the residents with government officials, nongovernment agencies, and business representatives; and to support and encourage the continued diversity of the Japantown neighborhood and surrounding areas."
サンノゼの日本町についての簡単なレポート
"The report consists of the development of a Japantown historic context and a reconnaissance level survey of 67 buildings within and around the commercial core. Historic contexts are the patterns and trends in history by which a specific occurrence, property, or site is understood and its meaning (and significance) within history or prehistory is made clear (National Register Bulletin 15). In the case of the Japantown project, the historic context is a record of the area from the perspective of the built environment and how that environment helps to interpret the history of Japanese Americans in San Jose and the United States."
Profiles several companies in California Japantowns that are maintaining the tradition of making tofu, and the struggles they face in attracting a new generation of Japanese Americans to follow in their business footsteps.
  • Julie Patel, "End of an Enclave?". San Jose Mercury News, July 18, 2003. (Reprinted at ModelMinority.com)
"After years struggling to preserve San Jose's Japantown, business owners and community leaders found ways to help revive the weathered strip, one of only three Japantowns remaining in the nation. They posted banners. Refurbished storefronts. Attracted new housing developments. But those efforts don't address what may be a greater threat to the survival of the neighborhood: children of business owners who don't want to take over when their parents retire."
Television station KRON's "Bay Area Backroads" program profiles the people and stories of San Jose's Japantown.
Blog entry posted by Todd Inoue describing his experience moderating a panel on San Jose's Japantown for South Bay First Thursdays entitled "San Jose Japantown: Past, Present, and Future".

Seattle

Seattle's Hotel Panama, site of the city's sento, or public bathhouse (1929)
Seattle's Hotel Panama, site of the city's sento, or public bathhouse (1929)
"This charrette was intended to generate ideas that restore and enhance the sense of place in Seattle’s historic Nihonmachi (Japantown)... Seattle’s Japantown compares favorably with Los Angeles' Little Tokyo ... in terms of significance and integrity. The problem, however, is that the historic center of Seattle's Nihonmachi has suffered from an erosion of identity over time and there have been no focused preservation and development initiatives around the concept of celebrating the extraordinary cluster of Japanese American resources that remain...This charrette was intended to explore a wider set of actions that will strengthen the visibility and identity of Seattle’s Nihonmachi."
"A UW charrette from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 will generate ideas to enhance the sense of place in Seattle's historic Japantown, or Nihonmachi. Students, planners, urban designers, architects, landscape architects and preservationists, among others, will gather at Sixth and South Main, the epicenter of Japanese American community life from the turn of the century to the forced removal during World War II."
"Before World War II, Seattle's Japantown was a vibrant immigrant community and home to approximately 8,000 Japanese Americans. This bustling community was shattered by the mass removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans at the outbreak of World War II. Community Ties: Memories of Japantown explores that history and introduces viewers to the Densho Project, a group preserving oral histories of Japanese Americans on line."
Seattle's Japantown as remembered by one of its residents, Dr. Ruby Inouye, the first Japanese American woman to practice medicine in Seattle.
  • Paula Bock, "Tea & Treasures". The Seattle Times - Pacific Northwest, November 3, 2002.
"The Panama Hotel and Tea House, at 605 1/2 S. Main St., anchors what was once the heart of Seattle's Nihonmachi, Japantown, one of the most thriving communities of its kind in the country. It was built in 1910 by the city's first Japanese architect, and for the next three decades, the lower floors of the five-story workingman's hotel were home to a laundry, dentist, tailor, pool hall, book store, florist, sushi shop and sento, a Japanese-style public bathhouse. Of hundreds of such communal bathhouses in Japantowns across the country, this is the only one preserved intact, in place."
The History section includes discussion of the Japanese American settlement in Seattle.
Release describing the "Community Ties: Memories of Japantown" program sponsored by Denshō on November 21, 2004, in Seattle. Includes a profile of the Japanese American community in Seattle that thrived before World War II.

Vancouver

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