JAPANTOWN
Seattle’s Nihonmachi, or Japantown, is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods alive with art and some of Seattle’s oldest restaurants and small businesses!
VISIT THE NEIGHBORHOOD
FRIENDS OF JAPANTOWN
Looking for something to do in Nihonmachi? Explore family-owned eateries, shops, and artist galleries.
NIHONMACHI ALLEY
History meets art to invite you to explore the often unseen community treasures in Japantown in this permanent outdoor exhibit
WING LUKE MUSEUM
Learn about accessibility, parking, and more details about visiting the museum located in the Chinatown-International District
JAPANESE AMERICAN REMEMBRANCE TOURS
These Guided Walking Tours take visitors through the past and present Nihonmachi covering approximately one mile over urban terrain giving guests context for what once was one of the largest neighborhoods in Seattle — previously spanning 72 blocks — and to what is now a cultural home for Japanese Americans in Seattle.
Visitors can also download a Printable Map or explore a Digital Interactive Map of the Japanese American Remembrance Trail.
Find printed maps at Wing Luke Museum, the JCCCW, or the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Museum
NEIGHBORHOOD CELEBRATIONS
JAPANTOWN JINGLE
This annual celebration highlights the many diverse small businesses of Japantown with live music and events!
SAKURA MATSURI
While the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are in bloom, Kobe Terrace Park comes alive for Hanami picnics!
HAI! JAPANTOWN
This weeklong summer festival celebrates the best and brightest in Japantown with a Block Party to kick off the week!
THE HISTORY OF NIHONMACHI
Learn more about landmark businesses that made up Nihonmachi including the Kokusai Theatre, Maneki Restaurant, Sagamiya Confectionary and Uwajimaya Grocers by visiting Nihonmachi Alley
IN THE NEWS
Five Chinatowns and the Communities Working to Preserve Them, Nathalie Alonso, National Trust for Historic Preservation, July 20, 2023
Here's the latest list of the '11 Most Endangered Historic Places' in the U.S., Neda Ulaby, NPR, May 9, 2023
Seattle neighborhood placed on unfortunate historic places list, Mike Lindblom and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks, Seattle Times, May 9, 2023
CID in Seattle named one of Most Endangered Historic Places in country, King 5, May 9, 2023
LEARN & EXPLORE
TOGETHER, WE ARE RESILIENT
Artist and community activist Erin Shigaki speaks about Japanese incarceration, the historical "othering" of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, and what it means to find home.
OUR READING LIST
Check out this curated list of additional readings about Japanese American resistance movements during the WWII era and modern BIPOC justice movements and activism today
JA GRAPHIC NOVELS
Wing Luke Museum, Chin Music Press, and many voices from the Japanese American community produced and published three graphic novels detailing particular aspects of the Japanese American experience in World War II.