Day 339: Japantown, San Francisco, California
📌APIA Every Day (339) - San Francisco’s Japantown, or Nihonmachi, is one of the oldest established Japanese communities in the United States. Officially founded after the 1906 Great Earthquake, when a number of pre-existing Japanese enclaves in the city were destroyed, the community re-emerged in the Western Addition neighborhood. For well over a century, Japantown has continued to serve as a significant cultural and commercial center for Japanese Americans living in the Bay Area.
Japanese immigrants first began settling in San Francisco in 1869, followed by the establishment of the first Japanese Consulate in the U.S. just a year later in 1870. These early residents built their initial communities in Chinatown (APIA Every Day 3) and the South of Market area, where they faced the same discriminatory land ownership and citizenship restrictions as Chinese immigrants. By 1906, a network of Japanese businesses including hotels, restaurants, barber shops, and bathhouses flourished in these districts.
In 1906, both Chinatown and South of Market were destroyed by the Great Earthquake and subsequent fires. Displaced Japanese residents then relocated to Western Addition, a Victorian-era neighborhood formerly inhabited by European immigrants. By 1910, around 50 Japanese businesses were operating at the heart of the district, serving a population of almost 5,000. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the new Japantown continued to grow, with an expanding commercial district that included grocery stores, boarding houses, hotels, and restaurants. Religious and educational institutions also flourished, with over 40 Christian and Buddhist churches and 17 schools established by the 1940s.
During World War II, the entire San Francisco Japanese community was forcibly removed and sent to incarceration camps under Executive Order 9066. As residents returned to the city in 1945, they slowly rebuilt Japantown and the community’s population returned to its pre-war levels. In the 1950s, the district became the target of one of the nation’s first urban renewal projects. In the following decades, many existing buildings were demolished to make way for new developments, leading to the displacement of thousands of residents and small businesses. Amid criticism from the broader Western Addition community, later phases of redevelopment began to emphasize the district’s Japanese cultural identity.
Today, San Francisco’s Nihonmachi is one of only three remaining historic Japantowns in the United States, alongside those in San Jose and Los Angeles (APIA Every Day 27). In recognition of this historical significance, Japantown was designated San Francisco’s first official Cultural District in 2018. Even though the district is currently struggling with a shrinking Japanese American population, the community remains active in preserving its heritage by hosting annual cultural festivals and celebrations. In 2024, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the long-anticipated renovation of the Peace Plaza—symbolizing a new chapter in Japantown’s legacy.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
FoundSF: Nihonjin-Machi, San Francisco's Japanese People Town
SF Planning: San Francisco Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan Historic Context, 1880s-1980s
SF Standard: San Francisco’s First Japantown Was in SoMa. Here’s Why It Disappeared
Sf Standard: The Oldest Japantown in the U.S. May Become The Newest
AsAm News: America’s oldest Japantown is still standing
SF YIMBY: City Celebrates Groundbreaking for Japantown Peace Plaza Renovation, San Francisco
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