The Densho Digital Repository exists today because of federal funding that is now at risk. The reality is that less than 1% of people who use Densho’s resources support us financially. Make a gift to Densho to support free, open access resources that keep Japanese American history alive!
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)
205 items
205 items
vh
Peggie Nishimura Bain Interview Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1000-170-10)
Working in a restaurant in Seattle's Nihonmachi, or Japantown
vh
Alan Kumamoto Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1000-464-10)
Memories of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo just after the war
vh
Tadashi Kuniyuki Interview Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1000-227-10)
Working in the Nippon Kan Theatre, seeing Japanese American "gangsters"
vh
Tadashi Kuniyuki Interview Segment 28 (ddr-densho-1000-227-28)
Description of prewar Seattle's Japantown maps
vh
Carolyn Takeshita Interview Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-217-12)
Description of Denver's Japanese American community