Browse Items (40 total)

The San Jose Asahi Team was formed in 1913 and was one of the longest lasting Japanese American baseball teams, although the team did change its name multiple times until its breakup in 1961. This photograph is of the B team playing a tournament in…

The Japanese American Museum of San Jose was officially established in 1987. The organization which at first was named the Japanese American Resource Center/Museum had its roots in a project that was collecting research on Japanese American farmers…

By the 1980s Japantown was starting to show signs of wear and tear as business owners could not afford to fix up their establishments. However, an effort to preserve San Jose's Japantown gained momentum as the city was considering the neighborhood…

In 1988 two historic plaques were installed on the corner of North Fifth and Jackson Streets. Both of the plaques provided a history of the Japanese community in San Jose and were designed by Michael Manwearing.

During the 1990 Japantown Centennial Celebration Dr. Tokio Ishikawa gave numerous walking tours to the public. As a longtime resident of Japantown Dr. Ishikawa knew the history of the town very well. In this picture at the corner of North Sixth…

The original San Jose Tofu came about in the post war period and was run initially by Heishiro Marumoto. After running the shop for over two years Marumoto decided to sell it to Yoshio Nozaki in 1948. Nozaki had learned how to make tofu while…

While the 1906 Earthquake devastated a lot of the bay area San Jose remained unscathed and offered a place for those who had lost their homes and businesses. After the earthquake many Japanese came to settle in San Jose's Japantown.

By the 1860's Chinese laborers who came to the Santa Clara Valley to work on the farms there. Over time the Chinese workers started to settle down near to the downtown area of San Jose by Market and San Fernando Street. As time went on anti-Chinese…

The Fuji Towers were built in 1976 to address the need of senior housing for the aging Japanese community. The housing project was completed due to the efforts of the Betsuin Housing Committee who lobbied for the permission and money to build the…

The building that currently houses the Nikaku Japanese Arts store was built by Kohei Kogura in 1954. Originally the building housed Jim Sakamoto's barbershop and in 1961 the Minato Japanese Restaurant opened under the original owner Mr. Mogami who…