Nihonmachi ("Japantowns")

Because of housing and employment discrimination, Japanese Americans tended to cluster in ethnic neighborhoods known as Nihonmachi, or "Japantowns." Living, working, studying, and worshiping in close proximity made for tight-knit communities. With the forced removal of Japanese Americans in the spring of 1942, the bustling Nihonmachis of the West Coast closed down and never fully recovered, even after the war ended.

Community activities (1956)
Nihonmachi ("Japantowns") (205)

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205 items

img Japanese Togo Employment Agency storefront (ddr-sbbt-1-13)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-1-13/

img Group stands outside the Japanese Togo Employment Agency (ddr-sbbt-1-18)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-1-18/

img Two men stand inside a store (ddr-sbbt-1-8)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-1-8/

img New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-83)

Black and white photographic negative of an unidentified patron in the New Tokyo Bar sitting in a booth near two unidentified guitar players.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-83/

img Frank Hirahara at New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-80)

Black and white photographic negative of Frank Hirahara and Rose Mae Hara at the New Tokyo Bar in Portland, Oregon. For original print please ONLC 2855 (ddr-one-1-79).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-80/

img New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-84)

Black and white photographic negative of unidentified bar patrons at the New Tokyo Bar. Bartender George Ninomiya is behind the bar.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-84/

img New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-82)

Black and white photographic negative of unidentified men playing Gibson guitars at the New Tokyo Bar. For print please see ONLC 4949 (ddr-one-1-720)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-82/

img Frank Hirahara at New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-79)

Original black and white photographic print of Frank Hirahara and Rose Mae Hara at the New Tokyo Bar in Portland, Oregon. For negative please see ONLC 2856 (ddr-one-1-80).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-79/

img New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-81)

Black and white photographic negative of two women behind the bar with the bartender at the New Tokyo Bar in Portland, Oregon. From left to right: unidentified, Rose Mae Hara and George Ninomiya.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-81/

doc Japanese Americans revisit their painful past (ddr-csujad-55-2109)

Newspaper clipping published in the Los Angeles Times regarding former incarcerees dismantling barracks at Heart Mountain incarceration camp to send back to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles as a permanent reminder of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sac_jaac_2212

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-2109/

doc Sacramento reunion III (ddr-csujad-55-2698)

Pamphlet of Sacramento reunion held at the Red Lion Hotel at Sacramento, California. Includes photographs of the Japanese community in Sacramento, California, before the war. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sac_jaac_2862

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-2698/

vh Chris Kato - Yoshi Mamiya - Tad Sato Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-33-11)

Clothing styles and apparel shops

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-33-11/

vh Chris Kato - Yoshi Mamiya - Tad Sato Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-33-2)

Description of size and approximate boundaries of Seattle's prewar Japantown

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-33-2/

vh Yoshiye Handa Yasuda Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-485-3)

Early memories of growing up in San Francisco's Japantown

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-485-3/

vh Yukiko Miyake Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-49-8)

Memories of the Japanese public bath

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-49-8/

vh Yukiko Miyake Segment 7 (ddr-densho-1000-49-7)

Description of Nihonmachi: gossipy and close-knit

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-49-7/

vh Jun Dairiki Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-326-3)

Growing up in San Francisco's Japantown

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-326-3/

vh Frank Miyamoto Interview I Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-50-3)

Physical layout of Seattle's prewar Japantown

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-50-3/

vh Jim Matsuoka Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-281-2)

Memories of Little Tokyo during the Great Depression

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-281-2/