About Our District
History
San Francisco Japantown was formed in its current location after the 1906 earthquake, and is the oldest and one of only three left in the nation.
Before World War II, there were over 80 Japanese and Japanese American communities across the country, at least 40 in California alone. Today, San Francisco Japantown is just one of three remaining in the nation. Government policies are responsible for the destruction of Japanese American communities, including the wartime incarceration of World War II and Redevelopment policies of the 1960s and 1970s. In both cases, Japanese American families and businesses were forcibly removed and largely uncompensated, decimating not only families and businesses, but entire communities.
San Francisco Japantown is a nexus for Japanese and Japanese American activity for the broad diverse community. Its community-based organizations, arts and cultural groups, unique businesses, celebrations, and festivals draw many to return.
San Francisco, Calif. Apr. 1942. A view of the business district on Post Street in a neighborhood occupied by residents of Japanese ancestry before evacuation and housing in War Relocation Authority centers for the duration of the war. Dorothea Lange photo. Courtesy of National Archives.
San Francisco’s Cultural Districts
In 2018, Japantown Cultural District was designated the very first Cultural District in the City & County of San Francisco.
The Japantown Cultural District (JCD) is one of eight San Francisco Cultural Districts, and is a formalized collaborative partnership with the City and County of San Francisco to stabilize historic communities at risk of displacement and gentrification.
Cultural Districts are funded by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to address cultural heritage preservation and work with City agencies “to celebrate and strengthen the unique cultural identities of San Francisco’s neighborhoods; to preserve and promote diverse communities cultural assets and to ensure that residents and institutions thrive and, to formalize partnerships between the City and communities.”
Cultural Districts within San Francisco are distinguished by unique social and historical associations and living traditions. While physical geographic boundaries do exist, the cultural districts are defined by the activities that occur within them, including commerce, services, arts, events, and social practices.
JCD is a program of the Japantown Task Force (JTF), a 20-year community non-profit organization whose mission is preserve and develop Japantown, strengthen the ethnic diversity, and create an atmosphere of safety, beauty, vitality, and prosperity through extensive community engagement and input to plan for Japantown’s future.
Japantown’s Future
The Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS) report, was the result of three years of town-hall community meetings culminating in a 5-year economic preservation and development plan officially endorsed in 2018 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, and Historic Preservation Commission.
The organizing City Agency, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, adopted the format of the JCHESS as a long-range strategy planning tool for all Cultural Districts and the basis of which all funding and programing are based.
A city requirement is to complete a Cultural History Housing Economic Sustainability Strategy (CHHESS) Report within a year of designation. The Japantown Cultural District (JCD) CHHESS Report builds on the Japantown Cultural Heritage & Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS), a vision planning document developed by the community in partnership with City agencies and adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2013.
There are six focus areas address in the CHHESS Plan:
Cultural Heritage and Sustainability
Tenant Protections
Arts and Culture
Economic and Workforce Development
Land Use/Environmental Resilience
Cultural Competency