Preserving California's Japantowns

Preserving California's Japantowns is the first statewide project to document historic resources from the numerous pre-World War II Japantowns. Project staff have reviewed a range of historical sources and consulted with an expert advisory committee to develop a list of 43 communities for further research.

Our criteria for developing this list included representation across the many regions of the state, and ensuring that distinctive economic characteristics and cultural features associated with diverse Japantowns were represented.

Gathering Nisei memories, especially from those who experienced these pre-WWII communities, and connecting them to the full range of California’s Japantowns is an urgent task, and a central purpose of Preserving California’s Japantowns. ››Find out how your community can help.

Sponsors

The California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC) invites communities to work with project staff Donna Graves and Jill Shiraki, in an effort to broaden public awareness and encourage the preservation of places and memories significant to historic Japanese American communities across California. 

Sponsored by the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC), the project builds upon California State Senate Bill 307, which provided funding for the development of plans for the historic and cultural preservation of the remaining Japantowns in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.

Major funding support is provided by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program. This project has been funded in part by a grant from the California Endowed Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

PHOTO ABOVE: Oakland Church, Courtesy of Library of Congress

Bibliography on California Japantowns

Related Projects

Japantown Atlas

This project will recreate more than a dozen California Japantowns as they appeared in 1940, on the eve of the internment. Maps drawn from old directories and insurance maps show the variety of Japantowns from urban centers to farm towns and company towns. ››Click here for more information.

Japanese American Historical
Mapping Project

This project documents the Japanese American dry farming communities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula-San Pedro slopes. A CSULB-GIS database has been established to identify ranch sites through 1928 and 1945 aerial photos and related base maps. ››Click here for more information.