Crossroads in Nihonmachi: The Struggle of an American Community

In 1973, San Francisco&apos;s Japanese community was threatened with extinction. &apos;Crossroads In Nihonmachi&apos; is the story of how one group of people - through their differences - were able to stop big business and a large bureaucracy fr...

Adrianne Anderson

Tony Sondag

In 1973, San Francisco's Japanese community was threatened with extinction. 'Crossroads In Nihonmachi' is the story of how one group of people - through their differences - were able to stop big business and a large bureaucracy from destroying one of the most important historical communities for Asian Americans. While the community had once stretched nearly 64 blocks in the Western Addition, our story begins when the final four blocks were destined for the wrecking ball. San Francisco, with its goals of becoming a world class city, was on a rampage to remake its communities, primarily low income communities, without participation from its residents and small businesses. As one of the first two cities to qualify for federal funding under the Housing Act of 1949, San Francisco steamrolled its ambitions with disregard for civil rights in the name of progress. In the Japanese community this translated to 1942 again when 120,000 Japanese were forcibly removed from the West Coast as World War II began. In 1962, the process of evictions began all over again as 3000 were removed from their homes and businesses. By 1973, when the community stood at four blocks, a coalition of citizens finally fought back to halt the community's demise. We then jump to 2006 on Japantown's 100th Anniversary. The threat re-emerges as an outside developer buys up 2/3 of the business properties. This time, the community is keenly aware yet threatened. While the faces are mostly Asian American, the story applies to any urban community.

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Crossroads in Nihonmachi: The Struggle of an American Community

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