Turning Japanese

"San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home." Benjamin F. Taylor

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.

Japantown first sprung up with the original influx of Japanese immigrants in the mid-1800s. After the mayhem wrought by the 1906 earthquake, many more Japanese settlers moved to what is now the Western Addition. Eventually, by the time the Second World War rolled around, this district had grown to have one of the largest concentrations of Japanese outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. Pictures from this era show that Japanese shops, temples, restaurants, teahouses, and community halls abounded in the quarter.

Unfortunately, the forced relocation of Japanese during the War put an end to Japantown's boom era. The locale suffered a further indignity during the fifties, when scores of old Victorian residences, housing hundreds of residents, were torn down to widen Geary Boulevard in the name of ill-advised "redevelopment". A few more fell victim to the wrecking ball to build the suburban-chic looking Japan Center mall. Slowly, Nihonmachi became less of a little Japan, and more a faceless slice of the City and County of San Francisco.

Currently, though, J-town, as some of the residents call the place, is experiencing a slow, but palpable renaissance. The city government, in conjunction with various businesses and a few local residents' associations, has finally begun to put some effort (and, more important, money) into bringing back the Japantown that once was. With any luck, all this will herald the dawn of a new day for San Francisco's small piece of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Big In Japantown

The Peace Plaza, located between two halves of the Japan Center, is distinguished by the three-story-high stylized white pagoda at its southwestern side. Recently reopened after an extensive renovation, the newly spruced-up Plaza boasts of elegant slate tiles, refurbished lighting, and extensive new landscaping. It provides a good place to sit and contemplate the sometimes-mad rush of people walking to and from the different areas of the Center.

For those who prefer a different sort of visual stimulation when they are seated, the AMC Kabuki 8 theater complex is located at the westernmost end of the Japan Center mall. The theaters and lobby areas were completely refurbished a few years back, so the complex, after years of neglect, finally feels like a good place to watch movies again. Most of the cinematic fare shown here tends to be of the Hollywood blockbuster sort, but from time to time the Kabuki 8 does play host to such prestigious events like the Asian-American Film Festival, and the San Francisco International Film Festival. During such times, the Kabuki is well worth a stop.

If you are arranging to meet a date in the area, there are fewer places more romantic to wait than by the Ruth Asawa Fountains. These consist of a pair of sublime bronze works by noted Japanese-American sculptor Ruth Asawa, which were recently restored and returned to working order by the City. Rough-hewn stone benches surrounding the fountains provide a place to listen to the water passing through the origami-like folds of the fountains and falling to the stone below.

Should you like your attractions more stationary, you should pay a visit to the offices of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society. Found on the second floor of the Kintetsu mall, the Society offers lessons in the Japanese art of less-is-more flower arrangements known as Ikebana. Should your skill in making floral arrangements be limited to plunking a supermarket-bought bouquet into a plastic Big Gulp tumbler, you can always simply take in the marvelous displays of Ikebana in the windows of the Society offices.

Sushi to Spaghetti

Of the three, Iroha is the most casual, with Formica tables and quick (some would say terse) service. But their offerings, especially the donburi rice bowls, are cheap and filling. Which probably explains why the place is constantly packed. Mifune and Kushi Tsuru, despite the Formica that also adorns their tables, are a tad more upscale (they have a better class of Formica…). Mifune has better noodles, while Kushi Tsuru can boast of excellent bento box meals.

For those who want a little novelty to go along with their Japanese food cravings, a local outpost of Rocky Aoki's Benihana chain can also be found at the Japan Center. Here the food is prepared on a hot griddle before your very eyes, but it's a little more expensive than the average Japantown restaurant, and your clothes will reek of Japanese food until they are laundered. If sushi is what you're looking for, next door to Benihana is Isobune, best known for the wooden boats that carry your sushi around and around a tiny moat dividing you from the chefs. It can be an interesting sight, but unfortunately the quality of the food sometimes fails to live up to the prices.

If you find that all the exposure to Japanese culture has made you crave good ole American comfort food, then the Denny's on Post Street was made for you. The food and décor are like that of hundreds of other Denny's scattered across the US, although some of the décor and all the servers seem to hearken more to Kyoto than Kansas City. If non-soba noodles are what you're dying for, there is a Pasta Pomodoro right next to the entrance to the AMC Kabuki 8.

And if a truly upscale dining experience is what you're going for, underwear magnate Nicholas Graham's first restaurant experiment, Dot at the Miyako hotel, makes an excellent choice. The culinary theme here is fusion, the décor hip, and atmosphere leaning much more to Tribeca than Tokyo.

Dreaming of Ginza

One place that should be a definite stop on your list should be the Soko Hardware store at 1698 Post Street. In between the cans of paint and the hammer displays and the glue guns are neat, only-in-Japan knickknacks and doodads, like a heated electronic toilet seat that doubles as a bidet.

For those tired of their Issey Miyake and Kenzo Takada haute couture outfits, Shige Antiques at the Kintetsu mall can outfit you with a genuine, antique kimono. Even if your tastes run more to American denim than Japanese silk, the richly colored, exquisitely embroidered robes on display in their windows are worth seeing.

Finally, if you're into Japanese books, magazines, or comic books (otherwise known as manga), then Kinokuniya Bookstore is your place to be. The only San Francisco branch of the famous Japanese chain, Kinokuniya carries thousands of titles, including dozens in English. So a crash course in Japanese is not essential to shopping here.

Those looking for a little more Japanese flavor than normally offered by Japantown would be well-advised to visit the neighborhood during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Usually held the last weekend of April, the festival is a two-day extravaganza of shows, booths, and various activities, all tinged with Nipponese influences.

Wilson F. Fang, San Francisco City Page editor

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