It's not just the European ethnic enclaves that are disappearing.

Made a stop in San Jose Japantown on Saturday afternoon, as someone wrote on her FB page that she would be appearing there for an event. It was a weekend afternoon, but there weren't many people on the streets. Not many toursts, as far as I could tell. (There was a cutie, next to whom I parked briefly until I decided to move the car since it was supposed to be in a tow-away zone for yesterday's event.)

The Buddhist Church on 5th St. is worth a look; I didn't go inside and I found out later from the people leaving that there was a Saturday service taking place at that time. Saturday vigil service so people don't have to go to temple on Sunday? How many families attending the temple have roots in area? Probably a significant number, but how many still live in immediate vicinity?

There are some new apartments in the area, but how many of the residents are Japanese-American? Most of the patrons for the Japanese restaurants seem to come from out of the area. It seems to me that SJ Japantown has lost its character as an ethnic neighborhood, as a living community - what ties to its past do those who frequent it or own businesses there have? Is it attractive as a tourist area? Will there be a demand that the city subsidize the neighborhood in some way if the businesses there begin to fail? While the neighborhood may be of historical interest, how many people other than your SWPLs care?

There are some markers and signs talking. bout the history of Japanese immigrants in America. One made mention of the ban on Japanese immigrants (among others) in the 1920s. I suppose that this is supposed to elicit the reaction that such a law was unfair or unjust, but there is no right to immigrate. I see no evidence that as the Japanese have assimilated, they have retained some set of "conservative" values.

SF Chinatown (old and new) are still around - but I suspect most of the immigrants are now from parts of China other than Hong Kong or Canton. Has anyone done a demographic survey on those areas? How many Cantonese-spearkers remain? Those Cantonese-speakers who have money probably choose to live elsewhere. It's been a while since I've walked by the neighborhood schools, are there many children left, or is Chinatown increasingly occupied by the elderly?

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka

Great news about the Nobel Prize
Vindication for Opponents of Embryo-Destructive Research
Stem Cell Scientists Gurdon and Yamanaka Win Nobel Prize in Medicine


Gladstone Institutes

Do we care what Mayor Ed Lee and the City of San Francisco think? Everyone wants to claim a winner as one of their own.

Steve Sailer, Japanese win another Nobel



More videos after the jump:

442 to be shown in San Jose

The movie about the 442nd Infanty Regiment. It will be shown on August 15th at Camera 3 Theater in San Jose (288 S. Second St.) at 12 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:40 PM, and 7 PM. (Advance tickets are $10, general admission is $13.)

Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Trailer at imdb.







Related:
442nd Regimental Combat Team Historical Society
442nd -- Rescue of the Lost Battalion
442nd RCT
442nd Regimental Combat Team - Unit Pages
The History of the 442nd Combat Team
Nisei
HI Nisei Story
Nisei World War II Stamp Campaign
Nisei Veterans Memorial Center
Nisei Warrios of World War II - Medal of Honor Heroes