By Ada Chan and Chis Durazo

JAPANTOWN, ALSO KNOWN AS J-TOWN OR NIHONMACHI, IS ONE OF THE OLDEST ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES IN THE COUNTRY. Like many aging ethnic neighborhoods without significant and ongoing immigration, its future is unstable. Old and new residents and businesses co-habitate without interacting, as younger generations of Japanese Americans migrate to the suburbs. The community faces an eventual loss of culture and no place to "come home" to.

As we have taken on this project, this has been work that we take on for ourselves, and for the future of our children, which is always the most onerous task. How will our children "fit" into the future? What place will there be for them? And what is the role of the community in engaging them in being responsible community members?

The Changing Community

During the past century, the Japanese American community of San Francisco has been hit hard and repeatedly. The 1906 earthquake (which resulted in the move of the community from South Park to its current location), the evacuation and relocation to the internment camps during World War II, and the era of the redevelopment of the 1960s and 1970s (which razed and scattered the community) are experiences that this community is still struggling with emotionally and economically.

Over the years, the community made decisions based on these extraordinary external situations that forced individuals to make no-win personal and political choices for the survival of their families.

The San Francisco Japanese American community is no longer a resident-based community like the Japantown of 60, or even 40, years ago. Physically, many acres of residential land have been converted into what was originally envisioned as a world trade center. In addition to this, ongoing gentrification of the city has pushed middle class families into the suburbs.

Currently in J-town, there is a Nikkei (people of Japanese heritage) resident community as well as a Japanese business community; an African American community in the lower Fillmore; young European American apartment dwellers in what has now been co-opted into the "lower Pacific Heights"; a growing group of Russian seniors; a Korean resident and business population; and young Asian Americans and Asian immigrants who socialize there. Somehow all these groups manage to co-exist without really relating to one another.

Despite these changes, much of the current leadership in the Japantown community is "home grown." They are the last generation of Japanese Americans who were raised in the neighborhood and grew up working in local businesses and volunteering in community or religious organizations. However, a growing number of children of former residents and newcomers who come to J- town seeking community often feel like outsiders.

Inclusion of Youth

"What is most striking in J-town is the absence of a whole generation, my generation." Hearing this from a 23-year-old Japanese American woman raised in San Francisco, one has to ask, how did this happen?

While J-town wants to make efforts to attract youth, it has not made efforts to be a "youth-oriented" community. "Attracting youth" is limited to selling to youth. Youth are the target market group. What differentiates that attitude from any other entertainment district or ad campaign such as the Stonestown Mall, Nintendo games or Gap clothing? Youth are being targeted as consumers not as members or participants.

One of the dilemmas of being an Eastern culture in Western society is that while we as Asians respect and are oriented toward our elders, we as Asian Americans live in a Western society that glorifies youth. This might be one of the largest internal struggles that the Asian American community faces. By not changing the paradigm through which we look at our evolving culture and identity, we will find ourselves to be increasingly irrelevant in the eyes of our youth and therefore the future of our community.

Asian American youth are directing their energy to groups that value them as leaders, contributors and change agents, which is more attractive to them than a community focused predominantly on its seniors.

What would a youth-oriented community be? Youth would be promoted into leadership positions. The image of our communities would involve young people or revolve around young people. Very much like the image of Silicon Valley or the South of Market, young adults do not just exist, they do things such as start businesses, write books, work and play. It is the things they do there that define the area.

The Building of Ethnic America

While the Japanese American community is still trying to re-group after the impact of redevelopment, the Japanese corporations and businesses that play a large role in defining post-redevelopment Nihonmachi feel a strong responsibility for keeping J-town Japanese. The cultural assumptions of Japanese newcomers who come from a homogeneous majority make it very difficult for Japanese Americans who grew up with the American minority experience to meet the Japanese business community on common ground. In any strong community, this cultural mix provides a successful context for a thriving neighborhood. In these universal cases however, representatives from both groups are forced to create new venues for communication, understanding and collaboration.

As we look at the building of ethnic communities, we cannot ignore the role of culture. There is very little in our society that supports culture and community. Increasingly, this responsibility is held within the family, which is very limiting in the American minority experience. When we have opportunities to explore and own the particular overlays of our cultural/ethnic backgrounds, we are strengthened by the understanding of ourselves, and this increases our ability to relate to others in the world. The arts and history are the two key avenues that this can be made accessible, through venues such as cultural centers, performance arts and activism.

By "holding tight to our culture" in an attempt to stand strong against the pressures to be what Americans perceive Japanese to be, and while struggling with the challenges of diaspora, inclusion, and identity, J-town is a reflection of what it is to be Asian in America. The business, youth and religious communities seem to be all heading in the same direction of seeking a fusion of what is Japanese and what is uniquely Japanese American.

A gift from the city of Osaka after the war, the Peace Pagoda symbolizes friendship, peace, and cross cultural exchange. Through the planning process, we have come to understand culture in a variety of ways and see this gift as a symbol for the continuing evolution of the community: old learning from young, long-timers sharing with newcomers, activists creating alliances with other communities. Through sharing, the community is coming to a different, richer and more dynamic, understanding of its culture.