SAN JOSE — Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, several businesses in San Jose’s Japantown shuttered, opening the door for new companies to occupy those empty spaces. The new shops include barbershops and salons, artistic businesses and specialty stores.

Kia Fay, The Curl Consultant owner, said when she moved from Oakland, Calif. to San Jose, Calif., she could not find salons that were “well-versed in working with hair like mine, that I didn’t see businesses that looked like they could serve my purposes.”

Her shop has been in Japantown since January 2023. She has operated in other areas of San Jose, Calif. for a little over a decade. Fay also operated a salon suite in the Rose Garden neighborhood. When she opened her own business at the corner of 10th and Taylor Street, she “started going by The Curl Consultant.”

Prior to running her hair salon, Fay worked in Web development and project management. During the pandemic, Fay launched “The Curl Consultant Online Education,” offering “courses to professionals and consumers about how to work with natural hair.” Fay used skills from her previous line of work to pivot when stylists were not working in the salon space during the pandemic.

“It was during that time that I took the opportunity to really sort of focus on that online platform and that was great,” Fay said in a phone interview with the Nichi Bei News.

Fay teaches classes in-person and virtually on hair products. She commits to “…understanding what products are on the market right now (and) hopefully, helping individuals understand what to look for and what to avoid when they’re purchasing products.”

The Curl Consultant is located at 194 Jackson St. in San Jose’s Japantown. (408) 831-2875; www.thecurlconsultant.com.

Kevin Biggers, who owns San Jose Made, is glad to be in the neighborhood. San Jose Made is a part of Moment, which has four pop-up shops. The first of Moment’s shops began in 2018 at SJ Made’s Moment San Pedro Square as a project “in a downtown San Jose parking garage (which was) transformed into four micro-retail storefronts, perfect for providing local creative small businesses with their first physical storefront,” Moment’s Website states. Biggers said in a phone interview with the Nichi Bei News that Moment Japantown opened in 2022.

Three artists’ products are sold at the Moment Japantown storefront: Le Petit Elefant, Thousand Skies and Jacquelin De Leon.

Le Petit Elefant sells K-Pop stickers, enamel pins, desk accessories and other products. Thousand Skies sells stickers, plushies, dog toys and hats, among other products.

De Leon sells paintings, enamel pins, stickers and other products.

“We’re really fortunate because the location of our Moment Japantown storefront is really fantastic,” Biggers said. He added that the location receives “organic foot traffic” when it comes to events including Nikkei Matsuri, Obon and the Halloween block party.

San Jose Made has “consignment agreements with all of the artists who are part of the store,” Biggers said. He added San Jose Made “stock(s), maintain(s) and install(s) their work for them.”

San Jose Made takes in 30% share of the sale, while the artists take in 70% of their sales.

Biggers said they want to stay in Japantown “as long as possible.” “From a financial perspective, I just think there’s like…a lot of value and kind of meaning for us to be a part of the community here…a very close-knit community,” he added.

Moment Japantown is located at 208 Jackson St. in the city’s Japantown. (408) 600-6825; www.momentpopup.com/japantown-san-jose.

Higher Fire JTown Clay opened in October 2023 and is listed as one of the best pottery studios in San Jose on Yelp. JTown Clay is Higher Fire’s second location in the city, Dan Dermer, the pottery studio’s owner, wrote in an e-mail to the Nichi Bei News. The first space is located on Market Street.

According to Dermer, studio members can “spread out and create in an airy, beautifully-renovated warehouse,” which is 7,500 square feet. He wrote that JTown Clay “hopes to cultivate more interest in Japanese ceramic arts traditions — in particular, studio pottery.” Dermer added that among the reasons Higher Fire opened a studio in Japantown are the “creative synergies” in the neighborhood, citing other art spaces in the ethnic enclave including San Jose Made and Art Object Gallery. He said the Japantown neighbors welcomed the studio into the community.

The pottery studio offers six-week classes year-round for beginning and intermediate students. JTown Clay also offers one-time classes with “tons of teacher support, guaranteeing everyone makes pieces and has fun their first time doing clay,” Dermer wrote. He added more advanced students and professional artists can “take intensive workshops from visiting artists, several times per year.”

Since the pottery studio opened in the ethnic enclave, JTown Clay held several classes, “hosted three (sold-out) visiting-artist workshops from nationally-known and exhibiting potters, and filled our membership ranks to 350-plus people,” he said.

Higher Fire JTown Clay is located at 520 7th St. (408) 320-2660; https://higherfirestudios.com/venue/jtown-clay/.

Berenice Solorio began cutting hair during the pandemic in 2020. Solorio, the owner of Flawless Barbershop, opened her shop in the city’s Japantown in late March of this year. She said she liked “the community and the energy of Japantown.” She added she was “caught off guard by how welcoming everybody was.”

Solorio said the barbershop’s modern look is what makes it unique compared to other barbershops and salons.

Flawless Barbershop is located at 215 E. Taylor St. (408) 303-0869; https://www.flawlessbarbershopsj.com/.

Pau Hana Shave Ice Company opened in San Jose’s Japantown in 2022, according to owner Sam Agbayani. Agbayani said the shop’s popular shave ice flavors include mangonada (which has mango and other ingredients) and horchata flavors. He said shops in the neighborhood were “helpful” during the company’s transition into the ethnic enclave. Agbayani said the shop is popular during the summertime and on the weekends.

Pau Hana Shave Ice Company is located at 248 Jackson St. https://www.yelp.com/biz/pau-hana-shave-ice-san-jose-2.

Brian Nemedez, who runs Coldwater with his two brothers in Japantown, told the Nichi Bei News the streetwear store opened at the end of February 2022.

He said a friend who ran Second Hand Hustle, which his shop replaced, had asked him and his brothers if they wanted the storefront after he was unable to maintain both the Japantown shop and his store in Berkeley.

Nemedez said he and his brothers had been running the online clothing streetwear brand, Jubo Clothing, but they wanted a physical storefront to sell their clothing products, in addition to the work of other local Bay Area artists.

Coldwater is located at 205 Jackson St. in San Jose’s Japantown. https://www.yelp.com/biz/coldwater-san-jose.

The Jungle Barbershop opened in the city’s Japantown in December 2020, the shop’s owner, Matthew McCoy told the Nichi Bei News. He wanted to move into the ethnic enclave because “all the neighboring businesses were thriving and I wanted to be a part of it.”
McCoy said the shop “provides a good, happy atmosphere.”
The Jungle Barbershop is located at 275 E. Taylor St. (408) 217-9300; https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-jungle-barbershop-san-jose.

Mister+Mrs Hair Salon first opened in February 2020, but had to close a month later due to the pandemic, according to Angel Vargas, the co-owner of the salon with her business partner, Johnny Granado. They reopened in 2022.

Mister+Mrs. Hair Salon is located at 175 Jackson St. (408) 272-3879; https://www.misterandmrshairsalon.com/.

Other New Businesses
Lanny Nguyen Photography is located at 590 N. Fifth St. Lannynguyen.com; (408) 502-6586.

The Coterie Den, a recording studio and film and photography studio, is located at 169 Jackson St. https://thecoterieden.com/.

Know Future Gallery is located at 592 N. Fifth St. Knowfuture.info@gmail.com; https://www.knowfuturegallery.org/.

The Meat House, which sells various forms of meat, is located at 201 E. Taylor St. #1.