The People Have Spoken - SF Planning Commission to NOT Vote on Endorsement of Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan

I have received word from my colleague, Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) that the San Francisco Planning Commission has decided at this Thursday's meeting to NOT endorse or reject the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan.

THIS IS A BIG VICTORY FOR THE JAPANTOWN COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND CARING PEOPLE OF JAPANTOWN!

ALSO, IT IS ONE BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO THOSE 'DIRTY' COMMUNITY LEADERS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS TRYING TO GET PREMATURE ENDORSEMENT!

The people have spoken through e-mails, phone calls, petitions, and public hearing comments, and it is clear from the loud banging of our pots and pans that the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan cannot and will not be endorsed by the Planning Commission "as is" at this Thursday's meeting. Now the community will have more time to review the plan and make improvements.

So what now? The Planning Commission will instead vote on acknowledging the work performed on the Better Neighborhood Plan.

From what I understand, the City has not allocated any funding to the next fiscal year for this Neighborhood Plan, so the Planning Commission is passing a resolution to acknowledge the plan, with this acknowledgment, the Board of Supervisors can approve allocation of funding to continue this project.

If you plan on attending the acknowledgment vote, it will be this Thursday, June 25, 2009 starting at 5:00PM, but it is expected to run late. See agenda here.

To all of my readers who believe in defending and supporting Japantown during difficult times, I personally thank you for your support.

--------------------
Lastly...

Here's a lesson to those so-called powerful leaders and special interests who believes they can make decisions about Japantown's fate:

You may have the money and influential power to sway votes, but your voice is no more powerful than the collective group of community members and concerned citizens.

(One community leader or special interest person EQUALS one community member's voice)

With hundreds (or maybe thousands) of average citizens speaking-up against the Plan, and just several community leaders and special interests trying to get City endorsement, you should put your head down in shame.

You went against the wishes of the J-Town community who believed the Better Neighborhood Plan was not ready for endorsement, and you have LOST. If you admit it, maybe I'll forgive you.

Petition for SF's Japantown - The Better Neighborhood Plan is Not Yet Ready

I believe in San Francisco's Japantown's future, do you?

The Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan was published with too little time to review the entire document and in just a couple of weeks, the Planning Commission will be voting to give its endorsement or reject it.

Many community "leaders" believe that this plan is the best for Japantown, but many community members believe that endorsement should not be given at this time; it has not fully addressed the major concerns about issues especially about the Japan Center malls, and how the temporary loss of the malls will have a severe impact on the community at large.

With only the option to endorse or not, I ask you to sign this petition below and tell the City and County of San Francisco to NOT ENDORSE THIS PLAN. The community needs more time to work out the wrinkles and come to a consensus.

Sign the online petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/against-japantown-plan

(The petition site is working again after a 24-hour shutdown)

I was able to collect 16,235 signatures to "save" Japantown in 2006; will you help me and support Japantown one more time?

My Letter to the Japantown Community about the Better Neighborhood Plan

My plan was to e-mail this letter to literally the entire Japantown community, from community leaders, communtity members, old friends, colleagues; just anyone who has a shred of involvement with Japantown.

It turned out, it's a little difficult to get a list going, so I think posting it online for the entire world to see is a better option. I'm going to piss-off some, and satisfy others.

If you would like to attend a community meeting, it is this Sunday, June 14, 2009 from 2-4PM at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in Japantown.

--------------------

To the Japantown community and leadership:

Many of you know who I am. I am sometimes controversial, unconventional, and have earned the true respect of this community in early 2006 when I handed over 16,000 signatures in support of Japantown with the belief and encouragement of my late grandmother to step up and fight for what is right. If you have not read my blog (an online diary of sorts), you are in for a treat; I dislike the way this city runs, but I always have the true respect to write about the place I call "home," Japantown. Without my strong blog readership and the local blogging community's support, Japantown would not have the numbers to stand-up against the aggression shown by the developer and tenant association president of the 1600 Webster (old J-Town bowl) last year when The Nihonmachi Streetfair was threatened.

I still recall the day when I handed those petition signatures to the Mayor's office. It was a great day for Japantown when everyone in the community and around the world came together as one and believed in the immediate "saving" of our community. It was near impossible to oppose such a passionate effort. But as I look at our community today with the Better Neighborhood Plan, we are divided, with many of our prominent community leaders in full support of the plan, while other Sansei (third generation), and a lot of the Yonsei (fourth generation) are against a drastic change to the community.

As many of you know, the SF Planning Commission will be having a vote on endorsement near the end of June, and I encourage all of you to ask the board to delay this; not endorse, nor reject. I am really curious into why we are rushing this draft neighborhood plan, as it was released not very long ago. I can understand the fiscal year will end in just a month, but what are we afraid of to just ask the commission to give the J-Town community some more time so more people can get involved with enhancing and debating a plan that may help or even hurt our community?

You must understand, the Yonsei will be the next generation of community leaders. We also have a growing population of mixed heritage Japanese Americans, where currently, 1/3 of the ENTIRE Japanese American population are of mixed ancestries. The mixed heritage Yonsei population will play a major and serious role in the future of Japantown, and is researched in my Master's thesis (if you want an electronic copy, please ask me).

If the community, including its young adults do not come together and work on a deal that satisfies all, this community will stay divided, and in the end of all this, the future leaders and community members will regret what may happen to our proud community.

While we have suffered with being kicked out of our homes and sent to internment camps, and being kicked-out again for redevelopment, I believe this unique community has stood-up and stayed strong. I call this a unique community because in such a small area, we have so much to be proud of; a shopping center, literally a destination for everything Japanese, two hotels, a community center, multiple places of worship, community organizations helping the young and old, and family businesses still here after all these decades. So I don't understand, why change the status-quo? Why do I keep hearing that our beloved Japan Center should be torn down, parking from the lot gone, and take a huge risk of losing the character and financial economy of our community? I wrote in my blog over TEN MONTHS AGO, way before the topic of Japan Center was being discussed just a week ago:

"Today, we are struggling with the planned demolition and renovation of the Japan center. There is word that they will destroy our existing infrastructure and insert something even worse: a taller facility that houses businesses and homes, and may destroy the economy of our community. Those malls and the businesses who lease the spaces make a big impact to our community, and if they destroy the malls and the shopkeeps are forced to find somewhere else, will they ever return? Will they be guaranteed a space with the promise of the same rent rate? It seems that nobody has the true guts to ask this question to the people.

Many Japanese Americans in our community have this feeling that they should not speak out..."

But fortunately, I am proud to speak out...

Isn't this interesting? I think Japantown is doing well as-is. I will admit, the Japan center could really use a big refurbishment job to make it up to building codes and earthquake regulations. People believe Japantown is a "dead" place where there's no nightlife, when in fact, the restaurants are doing a killing on business. On a Tuesday evening last July, I finished an interview for my M.A. thesis project and it was quite late (8:30PM), and I decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the Kintetsu mall. As I walked around the mall, I noticed every single restaurant, including the very pricy Benihana, full of people patronizing and eating Japanese food. You can read more here: http://www.akit.org/2008/07/wondering-about-japantowns-future.html

I personally feel that Japantown is getting an economic boom and is helping to preserve and shape our community in new ways, including the redefinition of "community membership." To explain this, here is a very important paragraph I wrote in my Master's thesis:

"COMPLICATIONS WITH THE ASSIMILATION AND PERSISTENCE THEORIES

[Harry] Kitano’s argument about the inevitable progressive assimilation of Japanese Americans specifically focuses on the eventual loss of Japanese American customs that have been in existence for over one hundred years; and similarly, [Rebecca] King-O’Riain also argues that people in Japanese American communities are continuing to identify with the traditional Japanese American ideals and customs. However, one complication of the theories of assimilation and persistence based on the traditional Japanese American ideals and customs is Japanese contemporary popular culture, better known as “J-Pop.” Japanese popular culture consists of imported media from Japan , such as Pokemon (“Pocket Monsters”), Yu-Gi-Oh, Sailor Moon, and other Japanese animation. The attractiveness of Japanese popular culture for Japanese American communities creates complications because it conflicts with the theories that support assimilation and persistence based only on the persistence of “traditional” Japanese American culture, i.e. Meiji-era Japanese culture that has been transformed through a century of American culture. Japanese popular culture also creates complications within membership of a Japanese American community; membership into a Japanese American community through “traditional” means that the person must be of at least part Japanese American by ancestry (King-O’Riain 57), while Japanese popular culture welcomes anyone, including non-Japanese Americans to participate and invest into the Japanese American communities. While these two issues blur the line between what is community membership and not, Japanese American communities have embraced “J-Pop” as an economic boost. “J-Pop” brings in more customers to existing Japanese American businesses and “J-Pop” themed establishments such as Hotel Tomo, and cultural events, such as the Anime Fair and Parade during the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival, have helped reinvigorate Japantowns. “J-Pop” has also been able to contribute a kind of re-Japanification to Japanese American communities, and encourages Japanese Americans to re-identify with Japanese American identities and cultures through a non-“traditional” style."

Everyone, it is now time to talk. The future of Japantown is in our hands and we don't get many opportunities like this. Use your voice, or use that keyboard and speak your mind; don't be afraid if you are going against popular opinion or will receive retribution from your friends, family, and peers for your own views. I'm just as bold as my late grandmother to write this e-mail; Sox was up against a big opposition of Japanese Americans who thought redress was a joke, but look at what happened in 1988, it became reality.

SF Japantown Crisis Update #2: Meeting Dates Changed

After attending yesterday's (Thursday's) meeting which took nearly three hours longer than I expected, there was a good public comment turnout by the community with mixed reactions if the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan should be endorsed or not. While it was an informational meeting and a vote could not be made, the reaction from the Commissioners shows serious doubt about the plan, especially the part about the future of the Japan Center (the malls).

Unfortunately, the next meeting with the SF Planning Commission has changed. Instead of holding it on June 4th, the next "informational" meeting will be held on June 18th at City Hall, Room 400, with a vote to see if it will be endorsed or not on June 25th (this one is the regularly scheduled date).

It looks like the staff who was hired to work on the J-Town plan didn't work out the official date to have the second "informational" meeting with the commission, and literally got caught with their pants down when the commission stonewalled them because it was not in the planned agenda. (And what a waste of money since the postcards they mailed out states the meeting next week).

Dang... getting to our agenda item yesterday took FOREVER. At least I brought my iPod and was able to get a tasty lunch in the cafeteria.

SF Japantown Crisis UPDATE: Planning Commission Meeting

I received another message from Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC):

--------------------

TO EVERYONE CONCERNED ABOUT PRESERVING JAPANTOWN

You must act NOW! This Thursday, May 28, the San Francisco Planning Commission will hear the Better Neighborhood Plan for Japantown. If they move to endorse the plan, the plan will become final and done; we will NOT have another opportunity to revisit or re-do the plan for possibly another 20 years!

The plan was suppose to be an opportunity to preserve Japantown but rather contains increase height and land use recommendations that COULD negatively impact the future of our historic and cultural community. What was supposed to be a plan to preserve our community has turned out to be a road map for developers. OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS WE WILL SEE JAPANTOWN REDEVELOPED AGAIN, BUT WITH LESS OPPORTUNITY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES TO COME BACK, LESS OPPORTUNITY FOR FAMILIES TO LIVE HERE AND MUCH LESS OF WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT JAPANTOWN.

All the historic and cultural preservation components of the plan were put off to be implemented later by a new (unspecified) organization, with no realistic plans or commitment for funding to implement the recommendations. There are no recommendations to preserve or improve the Japan Center, only increase height limits of up to 250 feet, which means if the Planning Commission endorses the plan, that the community and the City also endorses a teardown of the Japan Center. (A 40 YEAR OLD BUILDING IS NOT OLD, BY ANY BUILDING STANDARDS, BUILDINGS TWICE AS OLD ARE RENOVATED AND IMPROVED ALL OVER THE CITY)

By the City’s own costs analysis RENT for small businesses in the Japan Center will increase by over 100%. The Japan Center garage will close for 2 to 3 years, which would impact all of Japantown. The impact of this recommendation has never really been fully reviewed and debated by the community, small business owners and property owners.

NO COMMUNITY IN SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY HAS BEEN IMPACTED MORE THAN JAPANTOWN OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS, FIRST IN 1942 BY EO 9066, LATER BY REDEVELOPMENT IN THE 1960 AND 70'S.

JAPANTOWN deserves better, we deserve more, We deserve a chance to put a REAL plan together that can meet the original goals of preserving our community.

WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY THE CITY, WITHOUT A HUGE OUTCRY FROM THE COMMUNITY AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS WHO VALUE OUR COMMUNITY, OUR HISTORY and OUR CULTURE, THAT THIS THURSDAY THE PLANNING COMMISSION WILL HEAR TO ENDORSE THE PLAN! THEIR ENDORSE IS FINAL PENDING ONLY THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REVIEWS and the Board of Supervisors.

Please tell the Planning Commission TO ONLY RECEIVE THE PLAN AS A WORK IN PROGRESS, in this way the community can continue to work on the plan, improve the plan, understand the impact of the recommendations and have a plan that will better serve our community and its FUTURE!

IF WE FAIL NOW, WE FAIL OUR FUTURE AND A JAPANTOWN THAT WE CAN BE PROUD OF TO PASS ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.

THERE IS NO NEED TO RUSH THE PLAN, JAPANTOWN'S ONLY IMMEDIATE THREAT IS APPROVING THIS PLAN BEFORE IT’S TRULY SOMETHING THAT PROTECTS THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY.

The Planning Commission meets this Thursday, May 28, at CITY HALL Room 400, please be there by 2:30pm. (We are second on the agenda)

If you cannot attend the commission meeting PLEASE E-MAIL, FAX OR CALL THE PLANNING COMMISSIONERS.

Be sure to indicate your name, any affiliations that you might have, also if you are a youth, a parent, a property or business owner, a senior, community worker, a shopper etc ON THE E-MAIL, FAX OR PHONE CALL. If you have a story of why Japantown is important to you, even better, BUT MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU DO NOT SUPPORT AN ENDORSEMENT AT THIS TIME.

ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO ALSO E-MAIL THE PLANNING COMMISSIONERS. Post the information on your face book, MySpace or other blogs.

Ron Miguel, Commission President rm@well.com (415) 601-0708

Christina Olague, Vice-President c_olague@yahoo.com (415) 558-6615 x 6

Michael J. Antonini wordweaver21@aol.com (415) 558-6615 x 2

Gwyneth Borden plangsf@gmail.com (415) 367-3801

William L. Lee bill.lee@flysfo.com (415) 558-6615 x 4

Kathrin Moore mooreurban @speakeasy.net (415) 558-6615 x 5

Hisashi Sugaya hs.commish@yahoo.com (415) 558-6615 x 7

John Rahaim, Director of Planning John.Rahaim@sfgov.org (415) 558-6411, (415) 558-6409 fax

Sincerely,
Friends of Japantown

OTHER RESOURCES:

SF JAPANTOWN PLAN: http://www.sfgov.org/site/planning_index.asp?id=57149

JAPANTOWN CHRONICLE ARTICLE: (See what over 250 people have to say about Japantown

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/12/MNMI17CUHQ.DTL&hw=japantown&sn=001&sc=1000

“The Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan (BNP) sets forth a 20-year vision for the community and neighborhood. As the City continues to change and development pressures and the cost of living increases, the City’s leaders realize that it is critical that the cultural character and resources that make Japantown special be identified, maintained and enhanced. Japantown has been the cultural heart of the Japanese American community in San Francisco for over a century, serving a role that is unique to the city, region and country. (Excerpt from the Executive Summary of the, Vision for Japantown, BNP

“Our prize if we do our job well today, is a thriving Japantown for future generations to enjoy, learn from and participate in, our greatest gift that we can leave them is this plan that helps direct the foundation for that to happen”

--------------------

Akit says: Get on your e-mail, phone, or whatever you can. Attend the meeting. SAVE JAPANTOWN.

SF Japantown Crisis: City Proposes Teardown of Malls while Building Owner Suggests Refurbishing

I want to share this letter I just received from Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California:

--------------------

Hi Everyone,

I’m not sure how up to date you are on the Better Neighborhoods Plan for Japantown, but in my opinion it’s a complete disaster with regards to preserving our community. You can take a look at it for yourself at www.japantown.sfplanning.org

The plan is being fast tracked by the Planning Dept. First hearing is May 28, Second hearing is June 4 and the final is June 25. We just got the plan in the mail this weekend and are expected to respond to a very complex and difficult planning document next week.

For example it endorses the demolition of the Japan Center with new building heights of up to 250 feet. By the City’s own financial analysis all the businesses would be displaced for 2 to 3 years. If they wanted to come back their rents would increase by 100%. The new condos would cost upwards to a $1 million dollars. I fail to see how displacing all the small businesses is good for Japantown. Most of them would either have to close their doors or could never afford to return to Japantown. Ninety percent of those businesses would be gone.

What I don’t get is that 3D pulled out of any development of the malls, because it’s too costly, rather they have offered to help with renovations of the mall, so why are we trying to get the City to endorse a tear down of the Japan Center . Makes no sense.

The plan also calls for increasing the building height of the properties on the Buchanan Mall and the North side of Post Street to 55 feet. This more than doubles the current height of the existing buildings. What this means is that once the Nisei/Sansei property owners pass on or leave the property to their kids, once they sell it, a new developer will tear down the property so that they can build up to 55 feet. We would entirely lose the character and feeling of Japantown, because any building over 3 stories would have to be steel and concrete similar to the new J-POP building and the condos where the bowling alley once stood. How does this maintain the cultural character of the community?

The original intent of this plan was to preserve Japantown. If this plan passes, we all will be responsible for the lost of not just one building this time but an entire community.

Unfortunately, the usual folks in the community are in favor of plan. (I have attached their comments) I noticed the comments on the SFGATE website regarding the article on Japantown.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/12/MNMI17CUHQ.DTL&hw=japantown&sn=001&sc=1000 read the comments below the article.

It’s interesting that more people outside the community value what we have then we do at times. I hope that you will help those of us who still believe that our Japantown is a cultural treasure and is worth saving.

We got it once by the Federal government 67 years ago, by the State Redevelopment Plan 40 years ago, NOW by the City? It’s amazing how we started out, with the good intention of developing a plan to preserve our community and instead came up with a plan and I quote, “that is a road map for developers”.

Some San Francisco neighborhoods have had 7 or more years to develop their plans; Japantown is only being given 2 years. I believe that our community deserves more time to develop a better plan and will be asking the Planning Commission too not go forward with endorsing the plan, but rather to let the community fine tune the plan. There is no downside to waiting a year or two, there is no pressing development being planned given the economy, why the rush? I hope that you will come out speak up and support our efforts to preserve our community.

Let me know your thoughts.

Hope all is well.

Paul

• Thursday, May 28 (Information Only)
• Thursday, June 4 (Information Only)
• Thursday, June 25 (Anticipated Endorsement of Plan)

The hearings begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers - Room 400, San Francisco City Hall , 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place . Check the Planning Commission calendar at sfplanning.org (under “Calendars”) as the dates get closer; calendars are subject to change.

The Japantown Historic Resource Survey Findings and the Context Statement to the Historic Preservation Commission on June 3, 2009 at 12:30am City Hall Room 400

--------------------

Paul makes a good point here, why is the city fast tracking this proposal to tear-down Japantown's two major malls (Kintetsu and Miyako), and 3D Investments (the current property owner) admits that it would be too costly to rebuild, and instead can afford to refurbish?

Didn't the city learn a lesson from redevelopment 40 years ago? They learned that tearing down homes and rebuilding structures costs MUCH MORE than simply refurbishing the many Victorian homes. For more information about this, watch the PBS/KQED program "The Fillmore."

Paul also makes a good point about our local businesses. The mall tear-down will cause the businesses to relocate, or possibly decide to retire their business. There is no guarantee if they will even plan to return, and this means that our community may experience the next Chevy's or 7-11 evolution.

There are a bunch of people who think Japantown is dead, but when you come into the neighborhood for an evening dinner, you may not see a huge wad of people lingering around the main pathways in the mall; instead, nearly every seat is OCCUPIED in the restaurants.

SAVE JAPANTOWN!
In March 2006, I handed 16,235 signatures to Gavin Newsom's office concerning the sale of the key properties in our community. It's time to STAND-UP AGAIN AND FIGHT.

BRING IT ON: The Japantown Festival Controversy

The Japantown Festival threat controversy alone is bringing a ton of attention to Akit's Complaint Department and I will not let this issue down until Japantown's festivals will be saved and kept, and the tenant's association and developer apologizes in writing for their absolutely hateful letters. The Nihonmachi Street Fair may be over, but I won't give up.

Outside of the Japanese American media, I am especially greatful to the folks at Curbed SF and SF Citizen for their efforts to spread the word.

Reading Curbed SF's comments, I came around to reading this very hurtful comment left by an anonymous poster (comment #15):

What a group of losers! Your street fairs stink and your know it. I live on Bush and Laguna and look at those pathetic festivals as the last gasp of a gang of out-of neighborhood activists who don't even live in the 'hood. What's Vietnamese BBQ, the SFPD and sellers of cruddy womens clothes have to do with this neighborhood or its heritage. Sorry dudes, trying to save those lousy malls with their tired businesses will never make it. Time to put a Whole Foods/Trader Joe's in there -- something people actually want. Time for you to move on since none of you live here -- suspect most of you are mostly bridge and tunnel anyway with your parents parked in their segregated retirement ghettos.

Here is my reaction that I posted about one hour after it was posted (comment #16):

EXCUSE ME? If you don't like Japantown, get lost.

I am appalled that you do not have any respect for the Japantown neighborhood. We have been kicked out due to internment and redevelopment. We can't help it if our malls don't look nice on the outside because redevelopment screwed Japantown and forced many people to move somewhere else, such as the Richmond District, and even the East Bay. If you have ever patronized Japantown in any way, you should not give any disrespect to this community.

Understand this, while only about 10% of Japanese Americans still live in Japantown, many of us do come back when we can to patronize restaurants, help out the community organizations, and meet friends.

Let me say that one more time, a lot of us don't live in Japantown, but we still love it and support it. Come meet a bunch of my friends who have volunteered for this community for OVER 40 YEARS. Why not visit Kimochi, the non-profit organization still going strong, and talk to the hard working volunteers that keep the organization moving with great programs like their lunch program.

Although my late grandmother passed away, she is considered the "Godmother of Japantown" for her leadership to fight for redress for all Japanese Americans interned in the camps during WWII, and her endless volunteering to her community; from preparing meals to serve the elderly every single day to fundraising over a million dollars to build a senior care live-in facility. And she also lived on Bush and Laguna.

You know what, I don't mind that the festival sold Vietnamese food. We have a social responsibility to help out others as well. During my tenure as the leader of the Save Japantown movement in 2006, I said to the Filipino American community that we could use their support because we all have a responsibility to help struggling communities. Japanese Americans were out there supporting the protests at the International Hotel and we needed their support as well. That message alone brought in 3,000 petition signatures in just 24 hours.

That's the spirit of Japantown for you. We are a proud community.

--Aaron "Akit" Kitashima
Owner and Blogger of "Akit's Complaint Department"

This is all I have to say for now. If you get a chance, subscribe to my RSS feed or sign-up for e-mail updates on Akit.Org and on the upper left side of the page for the subscription links.

Wondering about Japantown's Future

On late Tuesday evening around 8:30PM, I went to San Francisco's Japantown for a nice late night dinner, which is rare because I don't usually go to Japantown at night.

And something crossed my mind as I walked through the Kintetsu mall that evening, I looked around and saw not many people walking down the aisles of the mall, yet it was so interesting to just go to Mifune for an order of cold noodles (the "Mifune Special") and realize that the place is nearly packed. I also realized that the other restaurants, including the ever so expensive Benihana was crowded too.

Sometimes I wonder if Japantown is really changing for the good or the bad. One observation I noticed as I was eating my dinner at Mifune is the other people around me. Interestingly, there was not even one fellow Japanese American in sight, and it was a little difficult to find a fellow Asian American. Most of the people I saw are European American.

Just this observation alone made me wonder about what might happen to Japantown. In a previous discussion with a friend, we talked and agreed that while we believe the people who have been raised or have been very active in this community feel that "outsiders" who want to help is an uncomfortable idea; the other point of view I mentioned is the concept of "strength in numbers."

In the society of Japantown, it is becoming much harder to gather the support of the people of the community to fight for the preservation of our community. Yet, when we think about it, we need that "strength in numbers" to help secure our community. One particular example I have noticed these days is at the Cherry Blossom Festival. As always, the "regulars" are out there to support our community, but these so-called "outsiders" also play a major role in supporting our community as a whole. In this situation, the best example I can provide is the anime fair and their segment of the parade. It is amazing to see many young people, many of whom are not even Japanese American, participating in this event.

In some form, our community needs to find a way to promote this idea of "strength in numbers," and anime and Japanese popular culture may be the new way to do it.

Right now, our community is like an "old school" society, where the community is old fashioned. We practice some good old traditions including martial arts, and our restaurants reflect an old fashioned style. Right now, the community is taking a turn, trying to get those numbers by simply relaxing this old fashioned ideal and welcoming in the anime and J-pop theme. The Miyako inn was transformed into a J-pop themed hotel, and we are now building the new J-Pop center.

To many people I speak to in the community, all of them believe in preservation of the community. To many of them, it is keeping the traditions of Japantown alive. Yet, I see that the anime and J-pop idea may be a new concept that might actually help us, although we are sacraficing the old fashioned ideals that have been with us for generations.

I love Japantown a lot. It is difficult for our community to come together and fight because many of us have a job and it makes it a challenge to be out there. I feel that I sometimes regret that I can't always be out there to be the young leader of the community, yet I am still proud of the accomplishments that I have taken part of, including my leadership work to fight to preserve Japantown during the massive sale of the malls and hotels in 2006.

In one view, it can be said that Japantown will always be here, no matter what happens in the future. To others, they feel that Japantown will disappear if we don't do anything.

Today, we are struggling with the planned demolition and renovation of the Japan center. There is word that they will destroy our existing infastructure and insert something even worse: a taller facility that houses businesses and homes, and may destroy the economy of our community. Those malls and the businesses who lease the spaces make a big impact to our community, and if they destroy the malls and the shopkeeps are forced to find somewhere else, will they ever return? Will they be guaranteed a space with the promise of the same rent rate?

It seems that nobody has the true guts to ask this question to the people. Many Japanese Americans in our community have this feeling that they should not speak out, yet there are legendary Japanese Americans who have spoken out on items in the past and have became the true leaders and representatives of our community.

• Steve Nakajo, co-founder and Executive Director of Kimochi Inc., a non-profit senior services organization wanted to provide services to Japanese American elders because of the tradition of younger people always taking care of our elderly.
• Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California always speaks out about the issues surrounding our community.
• My late grandmother, Ms. Tsuyako "Sox" Kitashima was a survivor of the Japanese Interment Camps and was given a reality check from younger Japanese Americans that they should demand redress and an apology from the goverment for violating their civil rights and making them lose all their property. She was the first to speak out about her experiences in the Japanese interment camps and she went out of her way to ask other people give their testimony to government representatives at a special hearing at Golden Gate University. And nobody could really believe that a 2nd generation 60+ year old grandmother and the belief that 2nd generation Japanese Americans would keep quiet about their camp experiences, would be out there pushing congress and other people to fight for redress. In the end, a big reward came to light; Japanese Americans interned in the camps received a $20,000 check and an apology from the president. And all it took was to speak-out and fight for what you believe in. Even after redress, my late grandmother helped other Japanese Americans sign-up for redress, and went to local public schools to tell the story to make sure nobody ever forgets.

I sure want to be like my grandmother someday, and I did earn that true respect during the "Save Japantown" days. Yet, I always keep worrying about this little community that I call home.

Still proud of Save Japantown movement

I created the "Save Japantown" movement in concern to the sale of San Francisco's Japantown properties just over one year ago. To this day, I am proud of my accomplishments and to make a community come together and be proud of the Japanese American culture and heritage.

During my final graduating semester in college, I learned about the sale of Japantown's properties in the newspaper. All I thought about that day is about what can I do to stop this, and I knew it, an online petition.

With just $10 for a website registration at savejapantown.com and a free petition hosting website, I was ready to go. As the creator, I was the honoree of the first signature, and I spread the word by e-mail to all my professors and fellow friends to have them sign it too. Word spread so quickly, that in the first couple of days, I already received 2,000 signatures.

One week: 5,500, two days after: 7,000. Within a month, I submitted my petition to Mayor Gavin Newsom with 16,235 signatures. I knew by then, I accomplished something that I thought would be impossible, but with the good help of friends and e-mail, I was able to make sure that there was plenty of backup support to fight for our small community.

I also remember on a cold foggy day, I was on the Geary Street bridge that goes on the other side of Webster St. and I was with two other people and holding a banner over the bridge, promoting the Save Japantown rally. Many vehicles that passed by honked their horns in support, and we waived at them, thanking them for their help.

Recently, I was given an award from the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) in recognition of my efforts to "Save Japantown." I have been given verbal recognition in many places, including random people coming to me and thanking me for the good work, but a physical award made it even sweeter.

Out of the hard work and effort, I also learned that there were some negative sides to it. I've made a lot of new friends, but also made enemies.

Dale Minami and Don Tamaki were two people I feel despised our community because they basically sold us out. Their firm was the ones that were hired by the Kintetsu corporation to find a new person to buy the properties. Assuming that they were paid well for their services, but as well as needing to tailor the sale to make sure that the community is preserved, was difficult, but I think that a lot of community members, as myself, feel betrayed by them. At the "last meeting" where the Special Use District proposals and covenants were presented to the community, I questioned Don Tamaki about the covenant agreement. I asked him about what will happen after the covenant expires, and what guarantees that Japantown will still exist. He tried to go around the question with a bullshit answer, and I rudely interrupted him to stop his blabbering. He then tried to speak over my interruption and I yelled loud, in front of 50+ people in the crowd and I demanded a real answer.

Another is the Japantown Merchants Association. Also during the "last meeting," they publicly disagreed with the Special Use District, and that came to be a major shocker to the people in the room. After Jeff Adachi gave his comments, I gave mine with a vengeance. I felt real upset because the Merchant's Association turned their backs on the community, and it felt like my efforts to "Save Japantown" was ruined. I went on a large rant, spewing everything I could at them, from their definition of "community leaders" who also supported the association's views of not accepting the Special Use District, and nearly calling out a boycott of all merchants that are part of the association.

Just to make things worse, when I passed out "Save Japantown" fliers to various merchants, nearly all of them did not post it. One of them basically told me to fuck off. I know who you are, and I don't patronize you anymore.

Sure as hell, I brought shame to both the lawyers and the Merchant's Association and some friends, but I stand on my harsh reactions towards them. And to this day, I still have personal issues with these two groups. For nearly three months, I did not even visit Japantown until I felt that the heat died down.

I sent an e-mail out a few days after to various community leaders about my harsh reaction during that meeting. Here it is below (edited for length):
----

Hello Everyone,

As we all know, there's a big problem that we all are facing right now with this special use district... ...I'd like to see this conflict end because if this bitter battle goes any further, then the degree of separation may as well destroy the fundamentals of our community...

Lastly, I understand that some of the members of the community and the merchants association believes that my comments towards the merchants as well as towards Don Tamaki during the community meeting on May 4th, were at times outrageous. I do apologize for my actions, however some other community members that I keep in touch with, feel so upset that they are embarrassed to speak in public about it; and regardless if I make a fool out of myself, I need to also represent that minority too.

I want to do what is right for Japantown. I push hard because because we must never give-up the fight. People thought some of the JA's were crazy to demand redress and an apology, but after years of fighting an uphill battle, we got our government to acknowledge of what they did was wrong.

I idolize people like SFSU Professor Dan Begonia for telling me to fight for what is right and correcting the wrongs. He told the class one day about the story of Vicky Menalo Draves, a Pilipino American Olympic diver. He said that after fighting racism and discrimination, and earning two gold medals in the Olympics, she never earned the recognition of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. That motivated some of my best friends to organize and fight for what she so rightfully deserves. Mayor Newsom now supports this cause, and the city renamed a park in her honor. But the battle is not over.

I would have never rose-up to start a very successful petition drive without people like Dan to support me, and that has kick-started so many positive things from a rally, the cooperation of community leaders, organization of the youth, and possibly the deal that was made between Kintetsu, 3D, and the City. I hope that more positive things come out at the end of the tunnel for our community.

----

In the end, the Merchant's Association changed their mind and told the city government that they support the Special Use District, but I still feel that they brought shame to the community by first opposing it in the first place.

Today, I am still proud of our Japanese American community. The Cherry Blossom Festival is back and with brisk business everywhere. It makes me curious to know just how many people in the crowd even knows what the Save Japantown movement was all about.

If I get a chance to use a microphone in front of a large crowd during the Cherry Blossom Festival, I would say that "Without your help, the Save Japantown movement and petition drive would not have been successful. Your efforts has helped to preserve our community and the members of this community will never forget about all the supporters that came to defend us at our weakest. For that, I thank you."

Is Japantown saved? I think so, but just for how long?