Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 3:29 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
That was from two years ago... I guess things have changed.
Yeah, like I said, I think one of the development's lead partners pulled out...not surprising given the crappy real estate market. Sucks though...I was looking forward to seeing a new Japanese influenced development to invigorate the area...maybe it's not completely dusted just on hold.
Yeah, like I said, I think one of the development's lead partners pulled out...not surprising given the crappy real estate market. Sucks though...I was looking forward to seeing a new Japanese influenced development to invigorate the area...maybe it's not completely dusted just on hold.
Well, if I had pocketed that 266M from the Mega a couple of weeks ago, I would've made a donation.
Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 916 Location: SF Bay Area Country:
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 1:59 am Post subject:
It's not bad if you're looking for cheap real estate.
The city of Mountain View was turned around from urban blight to a destination city; my hope is that eventually SJ J'town will see that type of revitalization. _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 2:13 am Post subject:
Itazura ichiban wrote:
It's not bad if you're looking for cheap real estate.
The city of Mountain View was turned around from urban blight to a destination city; my hope is that eventually SJ J'town will see that type of revitalization.
Back when I went to college up north at Cal, San Jose was a cow town...but with the explosion of the Silicon Valley and surrounding area, San Jose has come a long way so I'm sure it will continue to see future growth over the coming years and decades.
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:58 pm Post subject:
Re: San Francisco's Japantown
An All-Japanese Mash-Up
By BONNIE TSUI
THOUGH the Japantown area of San Francisco has remained largely static since the 1970s �\ stretches of concrete, blocky mini-malls and lots of sushi restaurants �\ a new wave of Japanese popular culture, from monster movies to Lolita dresses, has hit the area, thanks to the recent arrival of New People, a five-level, glass-walled, 20,000-square-foot shrine to all things Japanese.
Opened last August, New People (1746 Post Street; 415-525-8630; newpeopleworld.com) is a modern mash-up of culture, art, design and fashion. It has a ground-floor cafe that serves vegan doughnuts, Blue Bottle Coffee and bento boxes by Delica, the upscale Japanese deli. The next two floors are dedicated to merchandise, specializing in items rarely found outside Japan; one level carries a wide selection of books, stationery, music and other goods, including skinny silk neckties ($139) from the Japanese brand Giraffe and hand-printed postcards ($2.25) by the popular Tokyo-based artist Yuki Koishikawa.
The second level is mostly devoted to three permanent labels �\ Black Peace Now; Sou-Sou; and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright �\ that are all big players in Tokyo street fashion and run from punk-rock goth to Lolita schoolgirl chic. An additional rotating boutique space introduces other works to Western audiences, including a line of white ceramic pins and rings that sprout live moss ($190) by the jewelry designers On Za Line, and whimsical line drawings by Noritake, an artist who collaborates with fashion houses and magazines in Japan.
Seiji Horibuchi, who founded New People as an extension of VIZ Pictures, his San Francisco-based Japanese film distribution company, says that Japantown is on the cusp of change. �gWe�fre just the beginning, I think, of a more recent, more modern presentation of Japan and Japanese popular culture here,�h he said.
New People also has its own state-of-the-art movie theater, VIZ Cinema (vizcinema.com), billed as the only movie theater in the United States entirely dedicated to Japanese film. (Recent mini-festivals have focused on works by three of Japan�fs most acclaimed directors: Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi.)
The complex also features its own art gallery, Superfrog (superfroggallery.com), named after a Haruki Murakami story, �gSuper-Frog Saves Tokyo.�h A recent exhibition at the art gallery, titled �gThe Surf Shop,�h was an experimental collaboration of 17 Japanese artists inspired by surf culture. The result was a multimedia extravaganza: hand-shaped balsa big-wave boards by Yoshihiko Kushimoto; a �gSurfing Barbie�h exhibition by the graphic designer Taku Satoh; men�fs swallowtail suits reminiscent of surfboard designs, by Hiroshi Kubo; a glorious photograph of a stand-up paddleboarder in a snowy Japanese island riverscape, by Mie Kushimoto.
Superfrog is exhibiting works by the Taiwanese multimedia artist Yu-Cheng Chou through Aug. 1, in a show called �gBecause 64 Crayons Made in the USA.�h Fittingly for New People, much of his work is preoccupied with the globalization of cultures and the creative mash-up of new media.
�gIt�fs kind of a hybrid space �\ it�fs not about �ethis is all the cool stuff from Japan now,�f �g said Mika Anami, the manager of Superfrog. �gThe whole thing speaks to the person who is borderless, taking in a lot of cultural influences and sensibilities, of Japanese pop culture and the Bay Area specifically to start.�h
I went there a couple of times...it was a nice place actually but not terribly well integrated with the rest of Little Tokyo since it was located on Main St.
I remember attending films being showcased for the Japan Film Festival. Too bad it's gone.
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 6884 Location: Syracuse, NY Country:
Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:02 am Post subject:
After reading thru all your posts, quite jealous of all you out in CA. Up here in the boondocks of CNY, we have a small, small Japanese tea shop and that's it for up here for anything related to Japan, anyone know if NY has a little Tokyo or Japanese community? _________________
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Philanthropist now? 
anyone know if NY has a little Tokyo or Japanese community?
