Roy's Station
Day 1:
Today started at 9AM meeting with Kathy Sakamoto at the Japantown Business Association. We helped her clean up trash off the streets from the aftermath of the Obon over the weekend, then we went to Roy's and talked a little about the education system in America, and its ineffectiveness. Peter Delevett (Mercury News reporter) came around 11AM with his wife, and we interviewed both of them about the Japantown businesses, and which businesses would cause Japantown to flourish, as they are both Japantown residents. While some shops such as SJ Tofu and Roy's Station are maintained to preserve the culture of Japantown, other shops (Hawaiian, Korean, etc.) bring a vibrancy to the community by attracting broader interests to Japantown. Peter explained that it is very important to maintain this spirit of Japantown and the culture of earlier generations while catering to the new generation of the community. This is and will be a major problem in the business aspect of San Francisco Japantown. Roy's station is a good example of a balance, by renovating into a coffee shop while maintaining the name, gas pump, coke machine, and building structure. In addition, it is important for many businesses to start using online functions such as yelp, groupon, facebook, and twitter. Many new stores use these outlets to promote their store and bring in a younger crowd.
Lotus Preschool building front
After we met with Peter, we walked over to Lotus preschool to finish up our education week by speaking with Lynne Yamaichi, the executive director of the school. She explained how Lotus preschool is different from a regular preschool. Lotus stresses Japanese America culture and community by Buddhist temple visits, walking to Yu-Ai-Kai and Fuji Towers to share Japanese snacks and art projects with the seniors, using Japanese phrases, celebrating Boy's and Girl's Day, and practicing Japanese song and dance. 25 years ago, the preschool was created, and it became the first step for both the parents and the children into the Japantown community. By enrolling in the preschool, the kids would later enroll in programs at Suzume no Gakko and the Buddhist or Methodist church, so it is a way for the parents to stay connected as well. This illustrates the importance of early education in the community building that is apparent in San Jose Japantown.
We then stopped by the the Buddhist temple to talk with Reverend Sakamoto (Kathy's husband) about the history and details of the Buddhist temple. He explained the historical figures behind the creation of the temple, and how many of the parts of the temple reflect their decisions (such as the gold plating of the figures were done in Japan).
Day 2:
Today, we started out by helping Kathy with business at her JBA office. We helped pay bills, fill out forms for the upcoming Yosakoi Festival in September, and do other small things around her office. We started on putting inserts into the Japantown brochures, which took forever because there were over 7000 pamphlets! Alex and I went to eat with Sami (last year's intern) where we also met Jerry, the dentist practicing in Japantown. We introduced ourselves to him, and we found out that his family does quite a bit to help out the community.
Back at the JBA office, Kathy talked to us about marketing in Japantown. She explained that in order for the community to be successful, it must first know what Japantown's core purpose and ideals are, then figure out how to use these to get people to come. One of the most important aspects of bringing people in is choosing which businesses start up in the community. We brainstormed the purpose of Japantown, how the preservation of history and culture is important, but having a reputation of being a friendly community is also important (such as how Disney advertizes). Choosing the right business to not only bring in people, but maintain the culture and community of Japantown is one of the most difficult aspects of sustaining Japantown.
Picture of Brett Yasukawa (not taken by me)
Day 3:
Today we started out by interviewing Brett Yasukawa, who grew up in Japantown in the Dobashi's family, and later came back and opened up a restaurant named Yasu for two years. His goal for Yasu's was to push Japantown and evolve it, mixing traditional techniques with a modern setting. Yasu's concept was an idea that people would come in with shorts or with a suit and feel comfortable either way. He wanted conversation of the unique food that he created, which was in many ways different than all the other businesses at the time. He wanted to bring more energy to Japantown by changing both Dobashi's and Yasu's, which is exactly what we talked about with Kathy the previous day. Japantown needs an energy of progressiveness while maintaining Japanese culture in the community, which Brett's restaurant had, but for various reasons he closed it two years after opening. The reason why many businesses choose Japantown to open a small business is because there is a "quaint" feel to the community, and there is a lot of space to create and expand. Brett explained that the Japantown community is very tight, and many don't see the changes that can occur in Japantown, but with all the new Hawaiian and street art stores, Japantown is already changing. What he feels will truly make Japantown successful is building a business complex where the parking lot is, which will first attract progressive and new businesses, which will then attract many people to come and revitalize Japantown. Maybe then, Brett will come back and reopen his own restaurant in the community!
After talking with Brett, we walked around Japantown with both him and Kathy, and we walked into many of the stores such as Cukui and Nikkei Traditions, and we talked with the store owners.
We then went back to JBA and helped out around her business, including advertizing for upcoming Japantown events. We also met with her new intern, Kento who is an ESL student from Japan!
Day 4:
Today was intern day, so we met up with all the other interns in SF early in the morning. We first met with Kenji Taguma at the Nichi Bei Weekly, the widely distributed JA nonprofit newspaper. He explained how the newspaper was originally founded to reconnecdt the JA's after WWII, and then later was used to bridge Japan and America through the news. Today, it has become a nonprofit (which was a very difficult transition after the original Nichi Bei business was going to stop printing), and is used as a media device for community empowerment. I think it is a great thing that Nichi Bei is doing, and looking through their newspaper, it is obvious how it is able to bring knowledge of the JA community to all its readers, from articles to the different upcoming Obons.
We then went on a walking tour with NJAHS, led by two of our interns: Ken and Alison. It was very informative, because this was my second time coming to SF Japantown, and I knew very little about the area. It was also a lot of fun because we got to see what our other interns were learning about through the past 4 weeks!
We then drove over to the Federal Building, where we met with one of the staff working under Nancy Pelosi. She talked a lot about public policy, and how she worked with international relations in Japan and other Asian countries. Although I am not planning on working in politics as my career, she illustrated that there are so many ways for other jobs to get connected with a government job.
We finally took BART back home after a long day with lots of walking, but also lots of learning!
Day 5:
Today I spent the majority of today working on the website for San Jose Japantown JCCsj. Alex and I stuck around in Kathy's office working on various tasks as well, such as learning about grants, and REDOING the flyer inserts for the Japantown brochures.
If you want to check it out, the link to the website is:
http://japantownsanjose.wordpress.com/
[As of right now, it isn't finished yet]
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