SAN JOSE — Visitors to San Jose’s Japantown on May 20 had an “Immersive” experience as San Jose Taiko took over the intersection at Fifth and Jackson streets. Drummers jumped around the intersection facing every which way to perform for an audience that gathered in the middle of the closed-off streets. Joining the familiar resounding beats […]
Rooted in Community: San Jose’s Asian American taiko turns 50
April 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment
For half a century, San Jose Taiko has supported San Jose’s Japantown with its driving beats. Although internationally renown as a performance ensemble, the group has stayed close to its roots in community organizing. Though much has changed since its inaugural format as an activity for the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin’s Young Buddhists Association, […]
A tour of San Jose’s Japantown
December 22, 2022 by Leave a Comment
San Jose Japantown community member Jim Nagareda, a former Japanese American Museum of San Jose executive director, took people on a tour of San Jose’s Japantown in a video edited by J-Town Community TV for the San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Church. They explored the different businesses and places that make up the ethnic enclave, which […]
Countering misinformation on COVID-19 boosters among parents and seniors
November 24, 2022 by Leave a Comment
More than one million people in the U.S. have died due to COVID-19. And yet, as of Nov. 16, only 32.4% of eligible seniors in California have been vaccinated and received their bivalent booster, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website. As of Nov. 16, 12.9% of Asian Americans have received the […]
Vibrant murals on display at San Jose Japantown’s new apartment complex
October 13, 2022 by Leave a Comment
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Several painted murals appear along the exterior walls of the new Exhibit at J-Town apartment complex in San Jose’s Japantown. Derek Allen, the apartment complex’s lead developer, operator and owner, said Empire Seven Studios, a local art gallery, curated artists, including Roan Victor, Amy Sol and Andrew Schoultz. “The murals act […]
Santo Market serves up poké bowls, mochi and more in San Jose’s Japantown
August 18, 2022 by Leave a Comment
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Santo Market, located on the corner of North Sixth Street and East Taylor Street in San Jose’s Japantown, is more than a Japanese American and Asian American grocery store. The market, which first opened in 1946 on Jackson Street before moving to its current location in 1957, sells a variety […]
San Jose’s Japantown keeps optimistic outlook going into new year
January 6, 2022 by Leave a Comment
San Jose Japantown leaders have expressed restrained hope for 2022. The ethnic enclave continues to navigate the pandemic as a long-delayed mixed-use apartment complex project moves forward. “The business climate in Japantown remains slower than pre-pandemic, but our businesses continue to do well in spite of adversity,” Tamiko Rast, president of the Japantown Business Association, […]
Walking tour uses augmented reality to tell San Jose’s Japantown history
January 6, 2022 by Leave a Comment
It was 4:30 p.m., on a Thursday in November. As the sky was dimming, the tour of Japantown San Jose began. A group of 10 began walking along N. Fifth Street where the San Jose Buddhist Church sits. They looked up at their smartphones in the air and gazed into the two-dimensional space projected on […]
The Bay Area’s Japantowns adjust to the new normal
July 8, 2021 by Leave a Comment
With California’s June 15 economic reopening, businesses across the San Francisco Bay Area have gained a new sense of normalcy. The recovery process has varied according to individual businesses, even among the region’s two Japantowns. A Mixed Bag of Results in San Francisco’s Japantown When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced bars could reopen May 6 with […]
JA community responds to anti-Asian hate
April 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Though the Japanese American community has so far been spared from the brunt of the rise of anti-Asian hate currently making headlines across the United States, many Nikkei are nevertheless concerned. “There are a lot of people who are very worried about it. They’re scared,” retired San Jose Police Department Lt. Rich Saito, told the […]
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