Japantown, San Francisco

Japantown (Japanese: Nihonmachi, or Nihonjin-machi), located in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco, is the oldest and largest Japantown remaining in the United States. With a population of approximately 7,845, it is recognized as the oldest and largest Japanese community in the country. It has been the center of the Bay Area's Japanese and Japanese American community since 1906. The other two remaining Japantowns in the country are Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and Nihonmachi in San Jose — all three are located in California. Today, the neighborhood spans roughly six blocks along Post and Sutter streets and is home to cultural institutions, festivals, restaurants, and over two hundred small businesses that reflect both traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.

Early History and Founding

San Francisco's Japantown holds a long history dating back to the time Japanese immigrants first set foot onto the mainland in 1860. Up until 1906, San Francisco had been the main U.S. port of entry for Asian immigration and had the largest ethnic Japanese concentration of any city in the United States. Prior to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, San Francisco had two Japantowns — one on the outskirts of Chinatown, the other in the South of Market area.

When Japanese Americans started arriving in San Francisco in the 1880s to early 1900s, they initially settled in two other neighborhoods — in Chinatown (particularly along Grant Street south of California Street), and South of Market, a working-class district on the back streets between Market, Mission, Fifth, and Seventh Streets.

Japantown dates back to 1906, when the Great Earthquake and Fire devastated Japanese enclaves in Chinatown and South of Market, and the Japanese community began to move to the Western Addition area of San Francisco. In 1907, "picture brides" began arriving, families were established, and the second generation of Japanese Americans, or Nisei, was born.

This once-sprawling neighborhood was home to one of the largest Japanese American communities in the country and encompassed over 30 blocks of bustling activity, including homes, hotels, family businesses, churches, and recreational and social facilities. By 1940, the Western Addition Japantown area (referred to as Nihonjin-machi) was one of the largest such enclaves of Japanese people outside Japan, and it took on an appearance similar to the Ginza district in Tokyo. By 1940, Japantown embraced more than a dozen blocks and was home to more than 200 businesses owned by Japanese Americans.

A secondary enclave also took shape in the South Park area after 1906. The South Park area was located between the docks used by Japanese shipping companies and the Southern Pacific Railroad Station, and primarily served travelers between Japan and the United States. The South Park district's businesses suffered following the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924. By the 1930s, steamships had shifted their docking locations and immigration restrictions further curtailed travel, leading most remaining South Park businesses to close or relocate to the Western Addition.

World War II and Forced Removal

The neighborhood's growth was abruptly halted during World War II. During World War II, the entire Japanese community of San Francisco — both citizens and foreign-born — were forced from their homes and relocated to internment camps. They were among the roughly 5,000 San Francisco residents affected by Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The order authorized the U.S. government to "prescribe military areas … from which any or all persons may be excluded," initiating the forced evacuation of more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living along the West Coast.

San Francisco's Japantown had grown into a flourishing community throughout the 1920s and 1930s, but it was devastated by Executive Order 9066. Citizens of Japanese descent were given less than a month to close their businesses, sell their property, and pack what they could fit into one suitcase. In April 1942, residents gathered with what belongings they could carry and boarded buses in front of Kinmon Gakuen on Bush Street to Tanforan Assembly Center, a converted racetrack in San Bruno. By May 1942, the once-thriving Japanese community in the heart of San Francisco spanned 30 blocks of empty storefronts and shuttered windows.

During World War II, Japanese American residents were sent to internment camps and replaced largely by African Americans, whose thriving businesses included many jazz clubs. During the war, 60,000 African Americans had come to San Francisco from the South to work in shipyards and industries; half of them moved into the Western Addition, many occupying formerly Japanese American homes, apartments, storefronts, and churches.

Released in 1945, Japanese Americans slowly began to return to the West Coast. Several churches operated hostels in their gyms and basements for struggling elders and returning families until 1951. Eventually, as racial restrictions on housing were struck down, some families resettled throughout the city, particularly the Richmond and Sunset Districts, though Japantown remained the commercial and cultural core. With limited space and a smaller population, the Japanese community's recovery was embodied by a much smaller Japantown. What was once comprised of well over twenty city blocks now spans a mere six.

Postwar Redevelopment

Beginning in the 1950s, a decades-long urban renewal project reshaped both the neighborhood's population and its physical landscape. The Japanese Cultural and Trade Center was constructed between 1965 and 1968, on the site of what was once a thriving Japantown. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the heart of that neighborhood was ripped out by the massive and now-infamous redevelopment project carried out by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency under the leadership of Justin Herman, which razed most of the Western Addition. By 1960, at least 1,500 Japanese American residents and more than 60 small businesses had been displaced.

Depopulation of Japantown by ethnic Japanese was further instigated by the city's redevelopment plans initiated by M. Justin Herman in the Western Addition in the 1960s through the 1980s. With little community input, existing housing was razed and transportation corridors were widened. Though vigorously opposed by many leaders of the African American and Japanese American communities in the Western Addition, these projects would eventually demolish dozens of blocks and displace thousands of residents.

Several blocks were rebuilt very quickly; however, the three blocks bounded by Post, Laguna, Geary, and Fillmore remained vacant for half a decade while the Redevelopment Agency figured out how to finance construction of the Japanese Cultural and Trade Center (today's Japan Center). Construction finally began around 1965, and Japan Center opened in 1968. On March 28, 1968, the Peace Plaza officially opened along with the Japan Cultural and Trade Center, which housed the Japanese consulate, the first Datsun/Nissan dealership in the U.S., and many Japanese restaurants and businesses.

Between 1960 and 1980, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency purchased many Victorian properties and relocated them within the Western Addition neighborhood, specifically in Japantown, due to re-zoning. Several of these structures became listed California Historical Landmarks and are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Japan Center and the Peace Pagoda

The centerpiece of modern Japantown is Japan Center and the iconic Peace Pagoda at its heart. The Pagoda, located in the southwestern corner of Peace Plaza between the Japan Center Mall and Nihonmachi Mall, was constructed in the 1960s and presented to San Francisco by its sister city Osaka, Japan, on March 28, 1968. It was designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi.

One of postwar Japan's most famous and influential architects, Yoshiro Taniguchi of Osaka University, was chosen to design the Japan Center plaza and the Peace Pagoda. The Pagoda, standing 100 feet tall, is located at the heart of Japantown in the Peace Plaza, an area known for its historical significance and vibrant cultural events. The dedication was attended by the Ambassador from Japan, Takesō Shimoda, and the deputy mayor of Osaka, Yasushi Oshima; during the dedication ceremonies, the eternal flame was lit from a torch brought from the Sumiyoshi taisha in Osaka.

Japan Center, bordered by Geary Boulevard and Fillmore, Post, and Laguna Streets, was designed in the Brutalist style by Minoru Yamasaki and opened in March 1968 as the Japanese Cultural and Trade Center. Over 200 small businesses operate within the district, offering everything from Michelin-starred cuisine to handcrafted Japanese goods. The Japan Center East and West Malls and the Kinokuniya Mall are central retail destinations.

In 1957, San Francisco entered into a sister city relationship with the city of Osaka, earning Japantown the nickname "Little Osaka." Osaka was San Francisco's oldest sister city. In commemoration of their 50th anniversary, one block of Buchanan Street in Japantown was renamed Osaka Way on September 8, 2007. However, Osaka ended the 60-year relationship in 2018 after then-mayor Ed Lee accepted a statue memorializing comfort women in 2017.

The Peace Plaza is currently undergoing renovations, which are scheduled for completion in late 2025 or early 2026. In 2024, the Peace Plaza was slated to undergo a $25 million renovation to transform it into a vibrant community space while preserving its historical legacy.

Cultural Life, Festivals, and Institutions

Japantown remains a living cultural district with a rich calendar of events and an array of community institutions. San Francisco's Japantown celebrates two major festivals every year: the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, held over two weekends every April, and the Nihonmachi Street Fair, held one weekend in August. The Cherry Blossom Festival features traditional Japanese cuisine and cooking demonstrations, a Japanese traditional arts and crafts fair, and a children's village, as well as performances by Japanese classical and folk dancers, martial artists, taiko drummers, and others.

During the first weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Northern California Cherry Blossom Queen Program takes place at the Kabuki Theatre, where women of Japanese and Japanese American descent are chosen to represent, learn about, and serve their community.

The San Francisco Japantown History Walk is a self-guided tour consisting of 16 interpretive signs along an approximately 6-block route through the heart of Japantown, providing visitors with a unique insight into the community's first hundred years of history and culture. A pair of cherry blossom trees were planted by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) outside of the center in 1994 to commemorate a visit by Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan during their two-week tour of the United States.

The San Francisco Police Department Northern Station serves Japantown, and the area falls within the San Francisco Unified School District. Rosa Parks Elementary School is located near Japantown and houses the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program (JBBP).

Today, Japantown survives and prospers in tribute to the Issei, the first generation of Japanese immigrants to America, and the Nisei, their American-born children, who preserved and passed on the legacy to future generations. San Francisco's Japantown is one of the few remaining in the United States and was the first. It is famed for its restaurants, shops, and cultural organizations.