Spirit of Japantown Festival (public event)

Meh. There's a festival event *this* weekend, but I guess it's kinda late to be posting for that. Regarding Japantown here though, it's a ripoff. 8 blocks is a huge stretch of imagination. All together there is maybe one decent block of shops or areas that can even be considered "Japan" oriented. There's the entire block of San Jose City Maintenance facility that's filthy, dirty and a complete waste of real estate, there's one or two decent places to eat, there's a larger group of over priced places to eat with less than great food. There's even a super ghetto fast food spot that's totally sub par quality, but hey, they have teriyaki so it counts right? The book stores and game stores are horribly over priced on most items, and even the large Japanese grocery store on Jackson between 5th n 6th is mostly a rip off. I understand the concept of paying a small premium on imported goods or even American goods at convenience stores, but I don't get paying gallon of milk prices for a quart. That's just pure greed. If this is one of the last 3 major Japantown's in the US, then I really hope the other two are doing better as this one's spiraling downhill fast. Parking sucks here too on a normal night, forget event weekends. There's idiots clogging up driveways so residents can't even get home, and yes I live here, and yes i get blocked at least 2-3 times a week by tourist and well meaning but stupid visitors. So sure, come along, visit a dying ghost town, bring lots of cash to buy overpriced food and trinkets and lots of patience when looking for parking anywhere close to the main block (there's only one, jackson between 5th and 6th).

On a side note, the Buddhist temple on 5th, between Taylor and Jackson street is pretty cool to look at, heck, if it weren't for the stupid laws requiring them to put handicap signs on one side of the entrance it'd be totally awesome, but you can work around that if you angle camera just right. If you want a more realistic feel for Japan, go to the country itself, San Jose Japantown is a joke and absolutely nothing in comparison to the real thing.

Interesting report, K. I haven't been to Japantown in a few years so I wouldn't know. I think my parents took me to a Japantown festival when I was a kid so I have fun memories about that. Maybe it's time I made time to get to another to refresh my ideas of what this area of San Jose is like.

Since you live in Japantown, I'm curious about what the neighborhood has tried to do to make it a more vibrant or more authentic place?

Well, truth be told, when I first visited years ago (1999-2000?) I had already seen the SF Japantown and spent time in Tokyo, so coming to the San Jose Japantown, I had certain expectations that were definitely not met. The streets and surrounding areas are mostly residential with a few scattered Japanese styled lawns and buildings thrown in the mix.

Fast forward to 2004, I moved into Japantown after living in Tokyo for several months... obviously there'd be no comparison under such circumstances, but I am continuously saddened by the lack of authentic feel here. When you think of Japantown or Chinatown, for example, you expect to see wall to wall kanji or foreign language signs, crowded sidewalks, bustling people, the sweet symphony of a hundred voices, of which you can only understand a handful, if that. But here, there's almost nothing. A few shops, mostly catering to specific customers, have Japanese (or other) language signs prominently displayed. I don't count small notices in a window. The only real obvious signs of Asian influence are the Buddhist temple on 5th street, the restaurant on the corner of 6th and Jackson (there's only one on corner there), and perhaps San Jose Taiko right down street from the restaurant whose name i forget. Everything else looks American or like a typical San Jose style that you could find in any other neighborhood. The signs on lamp posts are sometimes the only way to tell you've left one neighborhood and are in another here.

Improvements in last few years? Only within the last month, the city tore up the roads and has started repaving and redesigning the parking, and while providing a few more spots on Jackson street only, ironically makes it less authentic. I don't recall ever seeing parking like we have here anywhere in Japan. Then again, they typically have smaller cars and drive on wrong side of the road too, heh. So new pavement is good, the old streets were horrible, but it's a half-baked job so far and they still haven't finished painting and there's two centerlines on Jackson which makes for a bit of confusion for locals and visitors alike. (I blame San Jose City for this snafu though)

Other improvements include the large grocery store closing down for several months the gutting the store to redo it. They widened the aisles a bit which is nice, but oddly it detracts from the typical feel of Japanese style markets, and like I posted above, they still overcharge for most things. On the plus side though, they have a small section in the back fridge section that has the small bento lunch type boxes you can commonly find in Japanese 7-Elevens. While not as good, they do have some tasty items in there on occasion which do bring back memories of Tokyo.

I guess the other thing to consider is what the goal of Japantown is. Are they trying to reflect the current styles and cultures of Japan? Or is an attempt to recapture the feeling of an earlier era? Either way it fails in it's current state, but there has been some inertia lately to fix it it seems, just progress has been slow and probably hampered by San Jose and the cost of living and doing business here. Real Estate is stupid here and unfortunately most people have to charge high prices to cover costs, which of course boils down to greed somewhere, either the shop owner, land owner, the city, etc.

Sure, there's hope. I don't see it happening by the time this festival happens though, not without a lot more support and caring from local residents and businesses. Not to mention the City of San Jose itself.

QUOTE (K Xia(Guest) @ Jul 16 2007, 09:05 AM)

I guess the other thing to consider is what the goal of Japantown is.

"What is the goal of Japantown" might be the million dollar question. Is there a published master plan for Japantown that's available online somewhere? How is it represented in the city government?

At the risk of sounding like question boy, what's the history of how San Jose's Japantown got started?

I just went to the Obon festival over the weekend. I liked it. I've been going for quite a few years now. With the music, dancing, taiko drumming, games, and Japanese food, it's pretty fun. Whether it reflects "Japan", I can't say. I do know that this festival is basically a fundraiser for the Buddhist temple there.

Sheldon, I'm sorry that K. Xia feels so poorly about Japantown. I decided to support and work on the committee to help renovate and restore the history and atmosphere of Japantown. My ancestors worked hard to build and make something out of nothing during those early years, working the railroads and mining for very little money, especially prior to WWII and after. This is not Japan, and Japantown San Jose is not meant to be a reflection of Japan. It is the memories and hard work the Issei's (First Generation) and Nisei's (Second Generation) community built for their future generations to hold on to. There is a report on the history on Japantown on the web about San Jose's Japantown Restoration and Renovation project by Kathrine Sakamoto, which will explain what is being planned for the "corporate yard property" and surrounding areas. Yes, it is a slow process and the money is not easy to come by for the needed changes. This is why we, the community, are planning this festival to bring awareness of Japantown and help them financially move forward with their ideas and plans. These funds will also help the Boys and Girls Club, and other community organizations around the area.

Japantown will never be the authenic Japanese type town, but it will have the historic flavor of the first hard working people who migrated here to build new beginnings like many others who came to this country with the dreams and ideas for their future and generations to follow. I hope the information from the website will help answer your questions and the need for the support and participating in this festival.

As for the Obon Festival, it was a great success. Thank you to all who attended. It's a lot of hard work to put on each year, but well worth it. We had over 900 dancers on Saturday night alone, over 50 more than last year. And it was still very crowded Sunday evening too. Each year it gets bigger and better. For those of you who missed it, think about attending next year. It's always the second Saturday and Sunday in July.

QUOTE (nekochan @ Jul 17 2007, 01:18 PM)

Sheldon, I'm sorry that K. Xia feels so poorly about Japantown. I decided to support and work on the committee to help renovate and restore the history and atmosphere of Japantown. My ancestors worked hard to build and make something out of nothing during those early years, working the railroads and mining for very little money, especially prior to WWII and after. This is not Japan, and Japantown San Jose is not meant to be a reflection of Japan. It is the memories and hard work the Issei's (First Generation) and Nisei's (Second Generation) community built for their future generations to hold on to. There is a report on the history on Japantown on the web about San Jose's Japantown Restoration and Renovation project by Kathrine Sakamoto, which will explain what is being planned for the "corporate yard property" and surrounding areas.

You did not list website address, though it's more or less easily googled. Now, looking at Japantown in the light of your post, it's comes off differently. This of course also paints a rather clear picture that education and information need to be given greater priority, and to that end, I would agree that the festival you originally posted about would be a great start. It does not however mean that my "poor" feelings are any less valid. The Obon Festival was indeed great, I've been to it numerous times and especially enjoy watching the dancers and listening to the Taiko groups. There are many good points of the community, but there are many bad ones as well. If you truly wish to build the atmosphere back up, and to honor the memories and hard work of your ancestors, then you must not ignore the bad and hope it goes away, it simply won't. I won't go into my feelings regarding ancestry and the current state of Japantown as that's a separate issue and irrelevant to the topic here.

Upon reviewing the various websites and such, I see nothing obvious regarding the issues I mention in above posts. I see stuff about new statues on the corners, artist renditions of proposed wall, etc. These are nice, and the concept and intention behind them is great, but it does not address the issues that are causing the community to deteriorate as it has been. Until you research the cause, and fix the root problems, you will only be delaying the inevitable. These are points you must consider and address at some point anyway, best to be prepared ahead of time, because surely as I am just a common citizen of no great importance, corporate sponsors that your project will depend on... they will want answers to these same questions, they'll want assurance their investment is being made wisely.

In other words, don't give up, your efforts are worthwhile and appreciated, history must be preserved for the future generations to learn and know. Case in point; your stated goal of Japantown and it's restoration efforts here are obviously different than what most people commonly believe is the case and it's made me reconsider my opinions. I would recommend a greater focus on the mission and goals on your website, to help make it more clear. Re-read your original post and see if it matches your stated goals...

Everyone, the link to the Spirit of Japantown Festival is:
http://www.spiritofjapantownfestival.com

Nekochan actually did list it, but it's just the way the event listing displays the link to the website that's fooling people. That's my fault for programming it that way.

K. Xia, what info did you find online? Maybe you could post it here for everyone's benefit. BTW, you should create an account here K. We don't now anything about you. You can keep posting as a guest if you like... nothing wrong with that, but there's no Social Wave goon squad that we send out to mess with people. Besides, you seem like you're genuinely interested in your community and we need a few more heads like that.

On the points about authenticity, are there really all that many ethnic villages that are of the highly authentic variety instead of the multi-cultural variety? Didn't a lot of these places got started as slums that were essentially segregated neighborhoods? That true authenticity may have come about as a result of ethnic populations being relegated as second class citizens more than as a result of cultural reverence and cultural celebration.

Anyway, this is a good discussion. Its made me interested enough to go visit the festival if I can make it.

QUOTE (Sheldon @ Jul 17 2007, 11:56 PM)

K. Xia, what info did you find online? Maybe you could post it here for everyone's benefit.

Well, after some more research and review, I've decided to boycott this festival. Primarily due to this specific quote from the "Executive Director" of the Japantown Business Association, Kathy Sakamoto:

"Land use was listed to ‘Provide for a mix of housing types, densities, and prices, Encourage supportive mixed uses, including, but not limited to: Job-supporting uses, Day care centers, Churches, Cultural/community centers, Improve the quantity/quality of neighborhood open space, Minimize alcohol-related uses, Discourage new homeless shelters in the study area.’"

Cut n pasted directly from her report : Japantown San Jose Preservation and Development - Senate Bill 307 San Jose Japantown Report. May 28, 2004. (Pardon the ugly url format: http://www.japantownsanjose.org/SB307 San Jose report draft.htm)

The last sentence should be particularly disturbing to people: "Discourage new homeless shelters" WTF is that all about? Classic case of "not in my backyard" sentiment, yet they want to educate all of us about isseis and nisseis and the horrible suffering they had to live through, etc, etc. Not to mention the fact that San Jose Japantown was originally a Chinatown until the Japanese came in and took it over, a fact they conveniently gloss over. I call bullshit on the whole deal. There are several other tell-tale signs peppered through out their websites, not to mention blatant self-contridictory statements and intentions. I won't go into details here as it's a long and tired conflict between Japanese and other Asians, as well as natural conflict between human generational/social gaps and sociopath tendencies.

I have no doubt the festival will continue anyways, and many people will come and enjoy themselves, and Kathy and Neko (same person?) will make money (the real goal?) and maybe buy a statue or two for Japantown to raise awareness for whatever reasons they dream of, and in this endeavor I wish them best of luck (an acceptable goal by all means! providing you don't try to mask the real reason), but I refuse to support it and will encourage my friends and associates to boycott as well.

Also, Neko's reference to me via 3rd person in this thread shows incredible lack of respect and understanding of others' culture. Yet they want us to respect our elders, and theirs, and of course we'll like it! Hypocrisy knows no boundaries it seems. Every time I think I find a reason to respect elders in society, they prove me wrong. I like people, honest. I really want to forgive and forget all the bad things in the past, but it's really hard when people cling to these old memories and feeling that will never return and are blinded by their own visions to the beauty that exists all around them.

This will be my last post here. Good luck to all in whatever you do, I leave you with a quote from classic Japanese literature:

"...although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. This is the mistake of people who are attached to past generations. They have no understanding of this point.
On the other hand, people who only know the disposition of the present day and dislike the ways of the past are too lax." - Hagakure, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

(Follow up: URL i pasted for report above got butchered in translation. If you go to the main website and browse around you should be able to find link, just look for it on right side column. Feel free to fix link and delete this post if you would like, Sheldon. Thanks!)

K. Xia, I trust you'll come back to read this even if that was your last post.

You completely lost me with the outrage about respect for your elders and assumption about Neko's hypocrisy. That was completely uncalled for. I think you're projecting some past experiences onto some people that you don't know at all. Just like I don't know a thing about you except that you appear to be generally angry about a lot of things.

That could be a false impression on my part too. Perhaps you're just having a bad week and you're a former Wall Street bigshot who became moved by compassion to help the poor and you gave away most of your wealth to charities and have dedicated the rest of your life to helping people get off the streets.

Fighting poverty and establishing opportunities for cultural expression are very serious and chronic issues. You'd be a much more credible voice for those concerns if you didn't blow things out of proportion by cherry picking reasons for outrage and picking a bone with people who are just volunteers trying to contribute to the community at large. If you're truly serious about the things you say you believe in, you'll get farther giving people the benefit of the doubt and by learning to set aside the "us vs. them" excitement of the shouting match for a chair and the shades of grey reality of a conference room table.

QUOTE (Sheldon @ Jul 19 2007, 08:28 AM)

... Just like I don't know a thing about you except that you appear to be generally angry about a lot of things. That could be a false impression on my part too. Perhaps you're just having a bad week and you're a former Wall Street bigshot who became moved by compassion to help the poor and you gave away most of your wealth to charities and have dedicated the rest of your life to helping people get off the streets. Fighting poverty and establishing opportunities for cultural expression are very serious and chronic issues. You'd be a much more credible voice for those concerns if you didn't blow things out of proportion by cherry picking reasons for outrage and picking a bone with people who are just volunteers trying to contribute to the community at large. If you're truly serious about the things you say you believe in, you'll get farther giving people the benefit of the doubt and by learning to set aside the "us vs. them" excitement of the shouting match for a chair and the shades of grey reality of a conference room table.

First of all, there is no outrage. (And I hate even having to post this) I clearly state my opinions and that's that. I never once called anyone a name or used any unjustified commentary. There is no "cherry-picking" here either unless it's you specifically mentioning just the negative aspects of my posts, which I find distasteful as well. Yes, there are negative points, I wouldn't be human otherwise, but there are plenty of positive and encouraging statements in my posts, perhaps it says something about how you chose to interpret them? If my posts offend, then I suggest you think about why instead of going into reactionary mode. I have no need to justify my comments or conclusions, just as the development plan for Japantown calling for "discouragement of new homeless shelters" needs no explanation. Giving benefit of doubt... chairs, shades of grey? I have no idea what all that means. If somebody is being rude or disrespectful, I will call them on it every time. No free rides as it only encourages the behavior in the future. If Nekochan has specific issues with me, she should address them to me. It's a pretty basic concept in civilized human communications, and yes, this time I am making a very pointed commentary at a specific person. I live in Japantown, I've meet these people (even if they don't remember me), and I work in a Japanese company. I am not cherry-picking anything and I have no bones to pick with anyone. I have nothing to gain here, I am merely freely stating my opinions, as is my right. In fact, my community and neighborhood would benefit from Neko's work, so why would I be against it? You on the other-hand have the option to remove all my posts, as is your right. I leave many unpleasant suggestions unspoken as I don't feel it's necessary to spell out everything. If people are smart enough to read between the lines, they'll understand my points and feelings and accept them for what they are, otherwise I come off as an angry person and possibly a bit crazy, whatever. I don't care either way. My message will be received correctly or not, it doesn't really matter. And for what it's worth, yes - I started out on the streets, with no money, no job, no future, yet here I am now. Closing in on 6 figure income in high tech job at respectable company and with no college degree or help from my culture. I did it on my own. I support many causes worldwide and have never ever used a "not in my backyard" excuse which appears to be a core sentiment in Japantown development plans. Now tell me how I'm blowing things out of proportion? An entire movement based on flawed logic is still wrong no matter what the intended outcome is. That old saying about the ends justifying the means ... it's crap and furthest from the truth. It's a product of weak minds being unable to discover the correct path. The irony here is Japanese society and culture really likes the spirit of things, samurai's, bushido, zen, etc. of which honesty and righteousness are highly valued aspects sought after by all, yet here they are now, saying homeless people are a blight and they don't want them in their hood. True colors are sometimes ugly.

And I'll say it again: I do not judge them! It is their right to feel and act any way they wish! They are human, and I respect that part of everyone. They should own up to their behavior though, there has never been any person in history looked down upon for speaking their mind. The message may not be popular, but it's still no reason to hate the messenger nor oppress them.

K. Gia, that report you cited is from 2004 and there is no telling how the "discourage building of homeless shelters" made it into the report. A lot happens to influence the decisions that any association chooses to make or sometimes are forced to make. The fact that it was mentioned may indeed be a red flag to revisit, but hardly a reason for blanket condemnation of the entire association or any activities that the association chooses to champion. You may not even be able to fault Kathy because you don't know if it was her decision to include that clause. After all, she has a board and a membership to answer to.

I didn't take offense to that part. It just seemed like a leap to judgement, but nothing I know enough about to get myself entangled over.

The part that I did take offense to was your reaction to Nekochan (and no she is not Kathy, click her profile link). Please take into consideration that your initial message didn't exactly come across as a gentle greeting. I know you didn't mean it to be offensive, but it actually came across that way the first time I read it and I was just a bystander. I have nothing vested in Japantown or the festival.

Perhaps Nekochan meant the third person reference as a slap in the face. Perhaps she didn't expect you to come back since you posted as a guest. Perhaps she had a long day after her two jobs and chose to spend what energy she had left addressing the concerns of someone she knows (me) rather than someone whose intentions were unclear at the time. This is what I meant by "giving the benefit of doubt." It's not worth the hassle anyway. There's too much ambiguity. Just let it go or yeah you will end up seeming like that "crazy guy" you mentioned.

Ok, this conversation no longer has any bearing to the festival or Japantown. If there's anything else you need to discuss, click the email link in my profile to send me an email.

Well, darn it! I really want to go and check out the festival this weekend! It sounds great!!!!!

In all fairness, Japantown should be renamed to Japanese American Town. If the area was meant to honor our Issei and Nisei... and even some Sansei elders, there would be more tradition. Most store owners there are now Yonsei (4th gen) at best or not of pure Japanese descent. Japantown as it stands is not traditional in any means.

Sadly, the cause of this boils down to how 1st generation Japanese and Japanese American kids that followed learned to grow. You cannot compare Japantown with any kind of Chinatown. Why? That's because Japanese here in the States had to assimilate into American (read White) culture. The Japanese population has greatly dwindled in a society which is becoming vastly diverse. Sure there are enclaves of Japanese/Japanese Americans, but they are not significant. The Chinese and Vietnamese communities are flourishing beyond belief with enormous 1st generation families.

The problem is more national. Look how all of the Japantowns have vanished. Even the San Francisco one lacks the original culture. And why not. Japanese American culture has always been about being as American as possible. Speaking as a Japanese American myself, I see fewer and fewer of us with pure bloodlines. As a 4th generation, I can still communicate in Japanese but there are very few Yonsei's I know that can. Again, as an American that's totally acceptable and is a slap on the wrist when things like this are brought up. But consider at the same time that there isn't a large influx of Japanese natives into the States either like from the rest of Asia. Eventually, Japanese Americans will eventually fade into a new racial category... hapa. At that point, there will be no one left to uphold what everyone is saying should be the belief behind what Japantown really *should* be because the belief has become diluted.

This is not to slander any idea, concept, or person. It is just a step back perspective from someone who experienced Japantown as a child but has also become distant from it because of its direction. Japantown has little to offer culturally of the past and of the future. Our upbringings have also caused us to drift from that life.