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 (871)
Nihonmachi ("Japantowns") (205)

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205 items
A group gathers on a balcony (ddr-densho-353-75)
img A group gathers on a balcony (ddr-densho-353-75)
This photo was used as the cover for the 1985 reprint of S. Frank Miyamoto's "Social Solidarity among Japanese in Seattle," originally published in 1939.
Inside of Mitsuwado (ddr-densho-353-68)
img Inside of Mitsuwado (ddr-densho-353-68)
Mitsuwado was a large bookstore on Main Street.
Crossroads, Vol. 1, No. 41 (March 11, 1949) (ddr-densho-358-15)
doc Crossroads, Vol. 1, No. 41 (March 11, 1949) (ddr-densho-358-15)
Selected article titles: "City Now Buying Lil Tokyo Sites" (p.1), "Brothers-in-Law in Reburial of Five Nisei War Heroes Here" (p.1), "More Strandee Cases Set for Trial, May 17" (p.2), "Scientist Decries Lack of Equipment to Carry on Research in Cancer" (p.3).
Nihonmachi (Japantown) (ddr-densho-36-47)
img Nihonmachi (Japantown) (ddr-densho-36-47)
South Jackson Street in Seattle's Nihonmachi, or Japantown. The museum's original identifying information dated this photo to circa 1910. Densho's later date, circa 1920s, is based on the clothing shown in the photograph.
Barneston's Japanese Community (ddr-densho-381-175)
doc Barneston's Japanese Community (ddr-densho-381-175)
A report prepared for the Seattle Water Department that discusses the history of Japanese immigration and community in Barneston, Washington, including a transcript of Yoshi Hibiya's oral history.
Nihonmachi (Japantown) (ddr-densho-42-1)
img Nihonmachi (Japantown) (ddr-densho-42-1)
This area later developed into Seattle's Nihonmachi, or Japantown.
Japanese Americans revisit their painful past (ddr-csujad-55-2109)
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
Sacramento reunion III (ddr-csujad-55-2698)
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
An Oral History with Katsuma Mukaeda - Segment 1 (ddr-csujad-29-56-1)
vh An Oral History with Katsuma Mukaeda - Segment 1 (ddr-csujad-29-56-1)
Chairman of Japanese American Cultural Center and former president of Japanese Chamber of Commerce recounts conditions of prewar Los Angeles's Little Tokyo, its wartime conversion into a black community, postwar reestablishment as a Japanese-American cultural and commercial center. Includes comments on discriminatory legislation, prewar Japan-American relations. World War II removal and incarceration, camp conditions, wartime repatriation …
An oral history with Katsumi Kunitsugu - Segment 1 (ddr-csujad-29-66-1)
vh An oral history with Katsumi Kunitsugu - Segment 1 (ddr-csujad-29-66-1)
An oral interview with Katsumi Kunitsugu, longtime volunteer and leader in Little Tokyo. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Audio is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0163. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3378_F01
Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 4 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-4)
vh Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 4 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-4)
Memories of Salinas's Japantown community

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 27 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-27)
vh Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 27 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-27)
Reflections on Japantown businesses

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Perry Dobashi Interview Segment 18 (ddr-jamsj-2-3-18)
vh Perry Dobashi Interview Segment 18 (ddr-jamsj-2-3-18)
Thoughts on running a business in the changing Japantown community

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Perry Dobashi Interview Segment 5 (ddr-jamsj-2-3-5)
vh Perry Dobashi Interview Segment 5 (ddr-jamsj-2-3-5)
Description of family's store in prewar San Jose Japantown

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Richard Onishi Interview Segment 8 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-8)
vh Richard Onishi Interview Segment 8 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-8)
Being one of the first families to return to San Jose's Japantown after the war

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Richard Onishi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-3)
vh Richard Onishi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-3)
Description of prewar Japanese and Chinese communities

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Richard Onishi Interview Segment 2 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-2)
vh Richard Onishi Interview Segment 2 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-2)
Memories of San Jose's prewar Japantown

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Richard Onishi Interview Segment 14 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-14)
vh Richard Onishi Interview Segment 14 (ddr-jamsj-2-2-14)
Reflections on owning a business in Japantown, community involvement

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

Dave Tatsuno Interview Segment 21 (ddr-jamsj-2-6-21)
vh Dave Tatsuno Interview Segment 21 (ddr-jamsj-2-6-21)
Reflections on owning a business in the Japantown community

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

George Hanada Interview Segment 12 (ddr-jamsj-2-5-12)
vh George Hanada Interview Segment 12 (ddr-jamsj-2-5-12)
Living and owning a business in Japantown: experiencing housing discrimination

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

George Hanada Interview Segment 16 (ddr-jamsj-2-5-16)
vh George Hanada Interview Segment 16 (ddr-jamsj-2-5-16)
Thoughts on Japanese American community, culture, identity

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

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