japantown (san jose)

紧挨着中国城的日本町，有日本超市，文化博物馆，资生堂全线化妆品，日本工艺品商店，在日本能买到的常用物品这里都有，很齐全

I like walking around this mini-Japantown. I enjoy getting sushi, trying out some new spots and checking out some cool things when window shopping. I saw kimonos for dogs! Awesome. I feel safe walking around here at night, and it is close to other neighborhoods if you want to spend a night out drinking/eating.

I LOVED Japantown! I studied Japanese in college and am from the midwest, so during my short visit in San Jose, I had to stop here. This small community within San Jose was very cute, historic, and everyone was very friendly. There are several Japanese eateries, a few gift/art shops, a sweet shop and more. There are nice placards in the area explaining how it was settled and there are a couple small artsy monuments dedicated to prominent Japanese community figures and such. Parking was easy and amply available. There is definitely a feel of pride in this community and you get the sense that they are doing their best to preserve it. If you enjoy Japanese culture or just need something pleasant and quiet to do that feels local without being overwhelming, definitely make a stop in Japantown!

I REALLY enjoyed my visit here. Unfortunately we went at a very sleepy time - 10ish on a Sunday. Not much open yet but we did visit a few nice stores, enjoyed the farmer's market and loved the kids playing ukes at Ukelele Jams - so cool... and the garden store next door is an amazing little sanctuary. I particularly enjoyed the Japanese Heritage Museum. Being of Japanese American decent and and army brat, I learned so much about my heritage and what happened during the WWII internment. There is a small fee charged. The guides are extremely knowledgeable. The exhibits are fascinating.This Japantown is one of only 3 in the country, and the only one in it's original location. Many of the others got trashed/burned and relocated, often within walled areas for protection! This one was preserved due to the many generous American counterparts sympathetic to the victims - they paid the rents/mortgages while they were interned so as not to lose their properties! Loved this special place and highly recommend it, very different from San Fran and better on some fronts!

Downtown San Jose in July is so festive with its annual Obon Festival held in July. We like to go there often for dinner. There is a wonderful Japanese history museum, walking tour through Town (i.e. sign boards describing the area), Buddhist temple and garden, stores, and more.its outside so it is pleasant area to walk through. There are Japanese markets, fresh tofu shops, manju shops, a Shisheido cosmetic store, and more.Today it was pleasant walking through as there is a studio where pleasant Hawaiian ukulele music was playing (two guys were there playing the music).

karate dojo and the best japanese food san jose to the south the farmers and the dark neiborhood of old style japan

My wife and I visited a couple times recently. We didn't eat at any of the restaurants, but we saw several, and a farmer's market, as well. There was a grocery store that's pretty typical of Asian markets. It's very small, though, so it's not the kind of place where you hand-pick your lobster or anything, but if you want pocky, ramen, and ramune, you're in luck!There were some nice gift shops. One was actually Hawaiian-themed. Hawaii has a large Japanese population, so the store was kind of a mix of the two. It had some pretty dolls, lots of T-shirts, books about Japan, games, keychains, stickers, candles, notecards, and some CDs from Hawaiian singers and from a local San Jose taiko (Japanese drum) group. Another git shop was all-Japanese. They had tons and tons of geisha dolls, dolls of royalty and the elderly, Buddha statuettes, zodiac figurines, etc. They had some pop culture magazines in Japanese if you're into J-rock, as well as Japanese cookbooks in English. They had a lot of incense, chopsticks, chopstick rests, and chopstick cases, some cute with anime-character stickers and some elegant. There's a lot of glassware there, though, so you have to consider transporting the large, heavy pieces home. They are also expensive. But I picked up lots of cute notecards and magnets shaped like fans with geisha girls on them and those were nice, lightweight souvenirs.There is a pretty large anime shop, though it's awkward to find. We passed right by and didn't notice it until we were on the other side of the street, gazing across. You have to enter a building and find your way upstairs. They have lots of DVDs, figures, and artbooks. I think they also had manga, but only in Japanese, no translated books. They had plushes, posters, wallscrolls, trading cards, and art cells/clear files, too, the kind of things you frequently see at anime conventions, and for the same prices.You can also find some historical points of interest. There are a couple Buddhist temples and there is also a museum dedicated to the Japanese who were interred by America during WWII. The artifacts weren't that impressive to me, personally, but the tour guide was amazing. Beware the gift shop! It's run by volunteers and they had difficulty locating items for us and even working their registers. I wouldn't look twice because it is truly more hassle than it's worth.Overall the stores were pretty deserted. We didn't see many other tourists or shoppers about. You can find some neat things but it seems like all the locals have been around for a while; most barely had a traceable accent if any at all, so it's not the kind of place where you want to try practicing your "konnichiwas" and your "arigatous." It's an interesting experience but not nearly so authentic as you would find in San Francisco's Japan Town, where the Japanese themselves actually shop and are willing to use some basic Japanese with tourists to give them a little taste of their culture. Still, it's a little area you can tour in a day and it's pleasant.

I went to Ukulele Source at 599 N. 5th and enjoyed learning and talking with the owner...and over to Roy's Station Coffee and Teas for a fantastic special blend of ice tea and... on to Hukilau for really great poke salad dinner. This area is peaceful, full of interesting people and shops, good restaurants. Not the sort of place with exotic buildings or whatever you might imagine, just a variety of interesting places. Things to note, like the rows of beautiful koa wood ukuleles hanging, or the 1954 Coke machine in Roy's, and so on. Relax there after a busy day in downtown San Jose by just driving northeast a bit.

San Jose's J-town is under transition. What was formerly a place for local Japan-philes to come and shop for nostalgic or cultural hard to find items, has now started to become a little trendier and hip. No doubt all the hype from 49er QB Colin Kaepernick and his ink-inspired clothing line hasn't hurt, the retail selection here has transformed from specialty to chic. But, and I can't emphasize this enough, find out when your fave place will be open because J-town doesn't seem to keep retail hours. Most are closed on Sun, and few are open later than 8 PM otherwise. Restaurants are generally good due to stiff competition and you'll find parking here non-existent on Fri or Sat nights. Check it out on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

I have been to the yearly festival here several years in a row. The food is delicious and I love the Taiko Drummers. Wonderful.

Good restraunts and great shops with a Japanese "flavor". A nice quiet neighborrhood with plenty of nice people and establishments to occupy a few hours.

Lots of choices of restaurants, several gift shops, etc. It's easy to find, but parking can be difficult, especially on weekends. I would like to see more shopping choices.

I am sure Japantown in San Jose was more inviting and busy in the past but even today there are several nice sushi places, a great little supermarket, a travel agency and a great little coffee place in the corner that used to be a gas station. Never been to the farmer's market. It is not as busy as Japantown in San Francisco but it is closer and has its own charm. It is a place a go to once a month at least

Great ramen choices, some of the best in the Bay Area. I like Santoka (which is inside the supermarket), and Kahoo which is further outside.

Small part of street with Japanese sushi restaurants. If you are not fan of sushi then there is nothing to do there.