Day 217: Nippon Kan Theatre, Seattle, Washington
📌APIA Every Day (217) - The Nippon Kan Theatre, established in Seattle in 1908 by Japanese businessmen Tatsuya Arai and Heiji Okuda, was initially intended to serve Japanese tourists visiting the Alaska-Yukon Exposition. When construction began in 1909, Thompson & Thompson architects designed the four-story, $80,000 Kobe Park Building to include street-level retail spaces on Washington Street, a theater and retail space on the second floor facing Maynard Avenue, and hotel rooms in the upper levels.
From its January 1910 opening until 1942, the theater served as a community center for Seattle's Japanese population, hosting theatrical performances, concerts, movie screenings, and martial arts competitions. The building also housed The Asahi News, Seattle's Japanese daily newspaper, while its hotel section, renamed the Astor Hotel in 1912, operated until the late 1960s.
The theater closed in 1942 when Japanese and Japanese Americans were incarcerated across the country and remained unused until 1981, when architect Edward M. Burke and his wife Betty restored the facility. The building earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places but was later converted to office space when ABC Legal Services purchased it in 2005. One significant artifact from the theater's early years, the original 1909-1915 stage curtain featuring period advertisements, underwent specialized preservation due to its asbestos content and is now displayed at the Wing Luke Museum's Tateuchi Story Theater.
In September, the National APIAHIP Forum held its closing reception at the theater, with Eric Hayashi joining local officials including Representative My-Linh Thai, Senator Joe Nguyá»…n, CAPAA Executive Director Nam Nguyen, CAPAA Commissioner Carrie Huie, and Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Director Jenifer Chao for open remarks.
LEARN MORE:
Kobe Park Events: Nippon Kan Theatre History
Northwest Asian Weekly: The restoration of the Nippon Kan: a feature story
The Seattle Times: Seattle’s historical Nippon Kan Theatre reopens, newly restored
International Examiner: Storied Nippon Kan Theater in Nihonmachi reopens as performance venue
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