The Rise and Fall of Japantown (Final)

Japan Center’s hottest topic of the month was the construction of a new little square looking thing in front of Café Hana. Many people stopped when they saw it and argued about what that thing was. The square thing was built in replace of the small waterless fountain but other than that, there was no other clear explanation known to people in general.

Seiko Fujimoto, a Japan Center’s merchant, half-jokingly said it was an Olympic swimming pool. A visitor of the Japan Center said it looked like a shiatsu bath. No one was able to figure out what that thing was exactly. It remained a mystery for everyone for sometime until the construction workers started to put colorful tiles on it.

“It’s a pond,” another visitor said.

The pond is like a premonition of Japantown’s future that is still unknown and in questioned.

San Francisco’s Japantown, one of the three remaining Japantowns in California, struggled to stay afloat. A merchant said in the Japantown Merchants Association’s meeting if sales went down constantly since September.

Steve Nakajo, the co-founder of Kimochi, a non-profit organization that assists senior citizen, said, “Do you see how many people in the Japan Center? It’s dead, man. There are probably two to three people.”

“Do you want a business here?” he asked.

Most community members and activists agree if an immediate action needs to be taken immediately before all of the merchants go out of business.

However, generational and cultural gaps got in the way. Everyone had a different point of view about what was best for Japantown. Each felt strongly about his or her stance and did not seem to willing to let it go.

Some people wanted Japantown to stay the way it was with little changes or minor renovations to bring old customers back. Others wanted to turn around Japantown’s image of being a quiet neighborhood to a hip and cool neighborhood for youngsters and this will be done by bringing trendy places to hang out at Japantown.

E.J. Varela, the food and beverages director of Hotel kabuki, said, “They do not want any society trends.”

Varela directed the statement to people who do not share her point of view and those who preferred to preserve Japantown like it was “a museum.” She mentioned Starbucks, Subway and several big names in the list of “trendy” brands that will bring more people to Japantown.

Under the city’s zoning code, Japantown has a rule that every business in the area has to be culturally relevant. This rule and regulation automatically bans chain restaurants like McDonald’s and retails like Macy’s and Bloomingdale's. The idea is to protect the small businesses in the area but will it help? Do people and businesses think they need to have a McDonald’s in the neighborhood?

Reaching a consensus is definitely a painful thing because there is hardly a middle ground in the process.

Aya Ino, a member of Nihonmachi Roots, a new youth group that taken an interest of Japantown issues related, pointed out the importance of having a dialogue to bridge the wide gap between those who want to preserve and those who want to change.

In the mean time, Japantown continued to show signs of dying and many people became frustrated, racing with the time to save their neighborhood.

These people had every reason to be frustrated: the two community’s newspapers, Nichi Bei Times (founded in 1899) and Hokubei Mainichi (founded in 1948), which had been circulating around Japantown for generations, suddenly disappeared. The two newspapers closed down with just two months in between.

Karen Kai, a community activist, talked about the community’s reaction of the closing of the two newspapers, “Everybody knew about the closing of Nichi Bei but when Hokubei’s closing down, they said, ‘Hokubei?!’”

When Nichi Bei Times announced it would publish its last issue on Sept. 10, Robert Okamura, the owner of a family-owned mochi store, Benkyodo, said even if Nichi Bei Times shut down, they still have the Hokubei Mainichi.

But now, with both newspapers folded up, Japantown’s community had no one to tell the story of the mom and pop store that went out of business and the life journey of a community’s elder who passed away. There will be no more tales about the neighborhood that survived two redevelopments in the past.

Basil Lee, a volunteer in Kimochi, said, “The younger generation, who born here, they adapted to American life. Maybe they don’t like sushi as much. Or rice. They eat hamburger.”

Japanese-American has a very unique identity. They have Japanese roots and history but many assimilate to the American culture. Today, many Japanese-Americans have only a trace of Japanese culture in them.

Fujimoto, who worked and raised her children in the United States, said that her son tried hard to be an American when he grew up and in the process, Fujimoto said she believed her son had became more of an American than a Japanese.

Another problem is language. Language is culture. However, many Japanese-Americans who grew up in the United States have little or no knowledge about Japanese language.

Kai, who served in the advisory board of Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan, said, “During the internment camp, many Japanese, me included, were raised under the belief if the assimilation was the key goal. And piece of that assimilation was to speak flawless English so my parents never sent me to Japanese school.”

Many parts of the culture are lost in translation. Thus, the generations of Japanese who do not speak the language will probably feel weaker connections with their roots and less eagerness to learn and pass on their culture to the next generation. When the language died, the culture died too.

Peter Yamamoto of the National Japanese American Historical Society said Japantown has a slow replenishing rate from immigration to keep it alive.

If what Yamamoto said was true, who will keep Japantown alive? Will it even needed to have a Japantown when the younger generations feel less attachment with the Japanese culture?

Benh Nakajo, a community activist who worked at Benkyodo, said, “[Our] goal is to leave something for the future generation. At least, physically.”

From there, the fight continued.

While some stores closed, others open. NEW PEOPLE, a new store in Japantown that markets itself on the image of Japanese pop-culture, was hoped to bring more people, especially youths, to the neighborhood. On a community forum on the Japanese-American Press, there was also a possibility to turn both of the community’s newspapers into non-profit organizations just to keep them going. While some people moved out of Japantown, grassroots organizations like Nihonmachi Roots appeared and organized to promote Japantown. When one thing falls, another rises.

Every Ordinary Person Has an Extra Ordinary Story to Tell

My subject for my profile story is Seiko Fujimoto who works in a store that sells traditional Japanese products. I will not lie if I found her almost accidentally. You probably heard her story in class last time and thought how fascinating her story was. And how lucky I was to be able to find a great subject. But really… the truth behind that is I never thought she had that story in her.

Everything about Fujimoto was ordinary except of her blue hair, of course. She was the first person that I talked to in Japantown when the semester started. She was outspoken although from the outside, she may not look like that.

I spent three full days following her literally everywhere. I went to a merchant meeting with her. I hang out at her store after her lunch until it was time for her to go home. She was a really interesting person, I will say. I admit I am guilty for forgetting my role as a student journalist. I was too absorbed in her story sometimes that I forgot to write down her story. A good thing, I brought my flip camera with me so I can record her story.

I am learning from my interviews with her. I learned about Japanese culture (I even had to go to a kabuki performance so I can understand her more). I learned to never think of someone as ordinary. I learned that every person has an interesting story within him/her. I enjoyed this learning process except of one thing: I learned to ask questions I dislike.

I knew it was hurt for her to remember the deaths and the war but what kind of story can I write if I did not know the whole story? I did not think I can do her story justice if I only understand her and her story partially. I had to constantly remind myself: “Ask her, ask her. You’re here to write her story.” It was really hard for me to ask those difficult questions like: “What do you think about Japan after the war?” or “Do you want to go back to Japan despite of all that painful memories?” I was afraid at one point she would break into tears but that never happened because she's a strong woman. I knew it's silly but the one who felt like crying was me. It was hard for me to stay objective too when she was so opened and kind to me.

All in all, I think she’s a unique lady. Fujimoto is a lady with attitudes. It is hard not to have sympathy for her at all because she is so brave, wise and strong. She is a person you can admire but not to hate.

How About a Date?

The first person that I interviewed was a young lady who spent a lot of time in Japantown. She was sweet and answered all of my questions. After I was done interviewing her, she said maybe I should also interview the guy who worked there. I was reluctant to do the interview in front of her because some people did not feel comfortable talking in front of many people. I said to the young lady if I would like to do that but maybe later. She kept saying I should do it now though. For the sake of returning her kindness, I asked the guy if he was available to answer some questions. He said yes.


These are some of the things that I asked

Me: Why Japantown? Why do you choose to work in Japantown?
He: Hm… Can I be honest?
Me: Sure
He: There’s a lot of cute girls, here
(I blinked my eyes several times before I was finally able to continue my interview)
Me: Em… well…, okay
He: Oh… and because you go here (he said it to the young lady who sat next to me during the interview)

… the conversation continued

Me: What do you think about Japantown?
He: You know what… Japantown is actually a Korean Town
The young lady / She: What? No
(I looked at the young lady)
Me: Uh… yeah… I think it’s not like that
He: Japanese like me and my friends too only go here to work… (then, he continued to explain why he called Japantown as Korean Town)

(God, I felt bad for the young lady because she went there for the Japanese culture that Japantown may provide… I knew we should not show our bias but still I could not help it when I saw the young lady’s surprised face)

… the conversation continued

Me: Do you have any favorite place in Japantown?
He: Hm… oh… this café
Me: But you work here. Do you have any other place?
He: … … … Oh… there’s a good ramen restaurant down in Buchanan mall. The name’s Tanpopo. We can eat ramen. Do you have anything to do tonight? (he said it to the young lady beside me again)
Me: %@&#*$ (actually, I’m speechless)
She: … … … … …

I Scared A Lady

I was waiting in front of Brenda’s French Soul Food when the clock was moving toward 12 o’clock on a cold Saturday morning. I was in a big dilemma whether I should give up my more-than-an-hour waiting. I had an informal appointment with a lady at Benkyodo at 12 o’clock that day. Finally after sacrificing my primary need to eat something, I went to Benkyodo (a traditional mochi store in Japantown). It was 12 o'clock on the afternoon when I arrived there. My stomach was growling but I was glad the lady was still sitting there, sipping her hot drink.

I said, “Good morning. How are you?”

I felt a smile was blossoming from my face. I was really glad that I met the lady again. She was a Japanese senior citizen who spent a lot of time in Japantown. I talked to her the week before and asked her whether we can meet and talk again (only for talking not an interview). She said yes, she will be around on Saturday at 12 o’clock. The lady seemed to be quite knowledgeable with Japantown and I just felt that I had to talk to her somehow.

While she was sipping her hot drink and I ate my ohagi, I wondered what conversation should be used to break the ice. She just seemed distance and different from the lady that I met the week before. I wondered if she thought of me as a mere journalism student who was just poking her nose into other people’s business.

The week before we had a good conversation and then, when I left her, I bought some mochis to go and I thought, that was probably the time when she started to see me differently. I was quite persistent (more shameless probably) and refused to go before I got an interview with the owner of the store. I just went on looking at the articles and pictures on the wall while throwing a couple of quick questions now and then. I ended up getting a less than 10 minutes interview after I talked to the owner’s daughter who was there at that time. Deep down, I felt that I should not do this in front of her because I enjoyed talking to her as a person rather than a source.

However, she may see me differently after that little show of shamelessness. She threw a couple of quick questions before she finally said she had to leave. She did not even look at me and she just left like that while I was just sat beside her like a moment ago. Last week, she spent more than 45 minutes to talk to me.

It seemed like she tried to avoid me. There was a little bit of anger for her to leave me just like that when I even had to cancel my brunch for her. There was a little bit of disappointment that I did not get to talk to her. But more than that, I felt sad. Despite of my eagerness of getting a story, I want people to look at me as a person and not just a journalism student. Hopefully, I am just thinking too much.