New walking tour debuts in San Francisco’s Japantown
April 8, 2008
San Francisco’s Japantown — known as Nihonmachi to its residents — is the oldest of three remaining Japantowns in the United States. From its roots as a refuge for victims of the 1906 Great Quake and Fire, to its post-World War II community revitalization, San Francisco’s Japantown has seen many major economic and cultural shifts that have made it the rich community it is today.
In honor of this long history, the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California has created the Japantown History Walk, a self-guided tour across ten blocks of the neighborhood. Seventeen interpretive panels have been mounted at places of historic interest, addressing topics ranging from the spiritual side of the 100-year-old community to the importance of Japantown’s amateur athletic teams. Most of the panels are concentrated along Sutter, Bush, Webster, and Post streets.
You can pick up a brochure for the self-guided tour from various businesses in Japantown, or download and print the route map yourself.
Spring is a great time to try out this new tour, as Japantown is bursting with street festivals and activities. The 41st annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival spans two weekends (April 12-13 and April 19-20), and includes a street fair featuring a food bazaar with traditional Japanese cuisine and cooking demonstrations, a Japanese traditional arts and crafts fair, a children’s village, and entertainment stages with performances by Japanese classical and folk dancers, martial artists, taiko drummers, and others. On April 20, the festival also presents the Cherry Blossom Grand Parade, featuring dozens of floats and more than 1,500 costumed participants from both the Bay Area and Japan.
On May 3, Japantown’s Peace Plaza is the venue for the community’s annual Children’s Day celebration. Recognizing Japan’s national holiday celebrating children, the event is free and open to the public, and offers entertainment, food, games, and arts and crafts activities for youngsters.
On May 17, Japantown hosts the fourth annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration, the largest gathering of Asian Pacific Americans in the nation. This free street fair features Asian American artists and DJs, martial arts demonstrations, Asian cuisine, a karaoke contest, arts and crafts, Anime screenings, and door prizes.