The founder of Nichi Bei Bussan, 21-year-old Shojiro Tatsuno, emigrated from Nagano, Japan to San Francisco, CA in 1893. In 1902, he opened the first Nichi Bei Bussan in what is now San Francisco’s Chinatown, carrying American goods that catered to the immigrant Japanese population. This store was destroyed in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, but was rebuilt in 1907 at a new location.

During the 1920s, Nichi Bei Bussan moved to the corner of Post and Buchanan in San Francisco’s Japantown. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, talk about an evacuation of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast prompted Nichi Bei Bussan to hold an "Evacuation Sale." This sale started around the beginning of March, 1942. Japanese American internment forced Nichi Bei Bussan to cut its prices and sell almost everything the store owned. On April 7, 1942, Nichi Bei Bussan closed its doors when the Tatsuno family was sent to Topaz, Utah with thousands of other Japanese Americans for the duration of the war.

With the war and internment camps behind them, Nichi Bei Bussan decided to open a second store in San Jose, CA. In 1948 the San Jose branch opened its doors in San Jose’s Japantown and was remodeled in 1973.

After 95 years of operation, the decision was made to close the popular San Francisco store with the passing of Masateru Tatsuno (Shojiro’s son) in 1997. The San Jose store continues on with the same pride and strong tradition that made Nichi Bei Bussan what it is today. On July 11th 1998, the story marked its 50th anniversary, followed by an in-store "Arigato" (thank you) appreciation sale and a reunion of Nichi Bei Bussan staff.

SOURCE: Nichi Bei Bussan Website

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