S.F. Japantown For Sale

Harry Mok
February 24, 2006

A petition is circulating calling for a halt to the sale by Kinetsu Enterprises of America, and the concerns could be real. The popular Japantown Bowl bowling alley, also owned by Kinetsu, was sold a few years ago and turned into a condo complex despite huge community opposition.

The nearby AMC Kabuki movie theater is also being sold by its owner, raising questions for the annual S.F. International Asian American Film Festival, which is based at the Kabuki.

Japantown remains a cultural icon and economic center, but the Japanese American community that once thrived in the neighborhood disappeared during World War II when its residents were sent to internment camps.

If you've been to Japantown lately, I hate to say it, but the buildings are a little dated and, as someone said in the Chronicle story, maybe a new owner would come in and make things better.

Japantown owner Kinetsu Enterprises has said it will look for a buyer that will keep the community in mind. Hopefully, it won't roll a gutter ball like it did when it sold Japantown Bowl.

Contributor: 

Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

Comments

Comments

cruz wrote on Fri, 03/10/2006 - 6:43am
i hope the hotel employees don't lose their jobs.
Robert Frailey wrote on Fri, 02/24/2006 - 10:21pm
I see the same is happening to what is once called " China Town" in Portland, OregonFunny....The Small street Boasted as Portlands "China Town"A whole 3 blocks?Even as the "Peal District is in the process of being remodeled? There appears to be growing movment to migrate to the SE 82nd Ave area.Where a new large Asian Mall & Multiple other Asian Businesses have all ready opened,quite,successfully and the newest site is quite Beautiful.The new Asian area could go on for miles and for a lower cost to all.=)Funny what can change when it is driven not by money, but by "Love ,Pride,& Culture".!Wo Ai Ni to all who care about the future, and want to be a part of the change!-------Proactively--------Bad Lao TouRobert Frailey ex patbadlaotou [at] sohu.com