I was recently in the US on holiday and on my way to LA to fly home to Australia I decided to divert through San Francisco for a day and visit Japantown or Nihonmachi (日本町), as it is sometimes known.

History

The beginnings of Japantown date back over 150 years but it wasn’t until the early 20th century that Japanese immigrants began moving into the area enmasse. By the 1940′s it was one of the largest populations of Japanese outside of Japan.

Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942, President Roosevelt signed an order that forced all Japanese of birth or decent in the United States to be interned. By 1943 much of the neighborhood remained vacant due to the forced internment.

Following the end of the war in 1945, some Japanese Americans returned to the area and included new Japanese immigrants as well as investment from the Japanese Government and Japanese companies, however, many did not return and instead settled in other parts of the city, or out to the suburbs altogether. (Thanks to Wikipedia)

Getting There

I took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) from San Francisco International Airport and it cost about US$9.00 one way to the Civic Center BART station, the closest to Japantown. And by close I mean a mostly uphill 30 minute walk. The good news on the way back is it’s all downhill. ^_^

Use Google Maps to give you other options but walking gives you a better feel for the area I think.

View Larger Map

To Do

While I found Japantown a little quiet, I imagine at night and on the weekends it would be buzzing a whole lot more.

Having said that, there is plenty to see and do there if you’re keen on anything Japanese including a huge Kinokuniya Bookstore and Gift Store, yummy Japan restaurants (I recommend Mifune) and plenty of little gift stores – some with the obligatory Hello Kitty but plenty more with interesting Japanese DVD’s, books, figurines, music, t-shirts and much more.

A full list can be found on the official Japantown website.

So Should You Visit?

It’s nothing like being in the real Japan and is nowhere near the excitement of Chinatown but if your a Japanese fan like myself then you’ll enjoy being there just soaking up the Japanese-ness (is that even a word?!) of it all.

Highly recommended ^_^

Photo Gallery

I’ve uploaded a small gallery of photos from around the centre of Japantown. Almost all of the shops would not allow photographs but I quickly got a few while no-one was looking. I would love to have taken more though as there were plenty of Japanese goodies to show!

Please excuse the photo quality, I only had my iPhone with me as my DSLR was packed away.

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