San Francisco - Japan Center (Japantown)

San Francisco's Japantown district is the cultural and business center for the city's Japanese community, the first of whom arrived in San Francisco, the city they called Soko, over 120 years ago. It was only after the 1906 earthquake, however, that they started to settle in this particular area, Japantown or Nihonmachi as it is known in Japanese.

During the Second World War most of San Francisco's Japanese and Japanese-Americans ("Nisei") were interned.

On their release many of the former went back to Japan; the others gradually returned to pick up the threads of their lives in the district they had left. Today there are more than 12,000 Japanese resident in San Francisco.

The opening of the Japan Center in 1968 was a great boost to the district. Now there are Japanese hotels, numerous Japanese and Korean restaurants, about 40 shops and a theater. In addition to the Japanese Peace Pagoda, the principal sight of the district, the temple, shrines, art exhibitions and many shops make for a visit filled with interest.

The springtime Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival; see Practical Information, Events) is held in Peace Plaza with its five-storied Peace Pagoda. Entry is via a gate ("romon") designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi.