San Jose’s Nihonmachi (Japantown) was established in the late 1800s when the early Japanese settled in the Santa Clara/San Jose area. When the 1942 Japanese War Hysteria forced the Japanese in the West Coast to relocate to “relocation camps”, Japantown became a ghost town until the war ended. Eventually the Japanese resettled in Japantown, but now they face the struggles of dealing with COVID-19.
Here’s a quick stroll through 1 of only 3 Japantowns left in the US. Enjoy!
Also, the strawberry mochi from Santo Market was delicious
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Links:
Chinese American Historical Museum at the Ng Shing Gung 五聖宮
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11 Comments
Very interesting and informative. Arigato gozimasu.
I was enjoying the video until you tried to make fun of how Italians spell margherita. It's a style of pizza. It's not the alcoholic beverage. That's margarita.
This channel is so wholesome.
Thanks for covering, adding insights to artifacts and history I'd not noticed in my nearly five decades here!
awesome video bro
San Jose Japantown has a countryside vibe, its quit relaxing walking around the blocks.
Loved the education in this video!
Cool video .. My dad took my and my sister there when we were kids loved all the cool stores
You missed Roys coffee shop AKA Roys gas station…
New japantown vid when New apartments are done please
Fun walking tour of SJ Nihonmachi. Thanks for spotlighting this small, but vibrant community. And, I appreciate you pointing out the Chinese and Filipino aspects of Japantown. It is a multi-cultural neighborhood.
The old brick building on Sixth Street was originally the Ideal Laundry, built in 1929 … unfortunately,it opened close to the stock market crash. San Jose Chinatown (AKA Heinlenville) existed on the property where the new seven-story residential development now stands.
A second printing of the SJ Japantown history book will be available in September of this year (2022). I highly recommend grabbing a copy. It covers the history of the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and African American communities in Nihonmachi. 🙂