20 + 2 points
Trespassing the Future by Teeth Beetles
December 28th, 2008 6:16 PM / Location: 37.785567,-122.4305
I hadn't even signed up for this task, but I saw the construction site when I was busy working on two other tasks. I realized there was an opportunity here.
This is apparently the construction site for the future J-Pop Center. I have no idea what that even is supposed to be. Is it a music store? Is it going to be some magnet for cosplayers and neckbeards?
Technically speaking Japantown itself is not going to be the same in 10 years. When I was a small kid, I remember Japantown being a whole lot different. It was dominated by many Japanese businesses, and the majority of people living, working and shopping in Japantown were Japanese, with a smattering of tourists. Then later, I learned that Japantown used to be a much larger area, prior to WWII, when the relocation occurred and the concentration camps (call a spade a spade) were opened. Then much of Japantown became what we know as the old Fillmore, with it's primarily Black community. Since all the old Japanese homes were now vacant, people sold the houses dirt cheap, and otherwise impoverished folks moved in. After the war, the Japanese that weren't (deliberately) shipped off to other states (to prevent collective action for reparations or justice) and dispersed, slowly moved back into the area again. Now, since Japanese-Americans are the most well off ethnic group within the Asian American diaspora, most of the Japanese Americans (myself included) are very assimilated, and have greater aspirations than running a small music store, a restaurant, or grocery store. Although some fixtures of Japantown are still strong, (Soko Hardware, Benkyodo, Kinokuniya and the grocery stores) others have been lost and replaced. In the mall, a novelty, stainless-steel (read: useless) store has sprung up, next to a "As seen on TV" store. A few Korean restaurants and a Hawaiian restaurant has sprung up over dead Japanese ones. Japantown is not going to be completely lost; there will always be a steady flow of foreign national students who need a book or magazine, and some comfort food. It just will be less than it used to be.
This is apparently the construction site for the future J-Pop Center. I have no idea what that even is supposed to be. Is it a music store? Is it going to be some magnet for cosplayers and neckbeards?
Technically speaking Japantown itself is not going to be the same in 10 years. When I was a small kid, I remember Japantown being a whole lot different. It was dominated by many Japanese businesses, and the majority of people living, working and shopping in Japantown were Japanese, with a smattering of tourists. Then later, I learned that Japantown used to be a much larger area, prior to WWII, when the relocation occurred and the concentration camps (call a spade a spade) were opened. Then much of Japantown became what we know as the old Fillmore, with it's primarily Black community. Since all the old Japanese homes were now vacant, people sold the houses dirt cheap, and otherwise impoverished folks moved in. After the war, the Japanese that weren't (deliberately) shipped off to other states (to prevent collective action for reparations or justice) and dispersed, slowly moved back into the area again. Now, since Japanese-Americans are the most well off ethnic group within the Asian American diaspora, most of the Japanese Americans (myself included) are very assimilated, and have greater aspirations than running a small music store, a restaurant, or grocery store. Although some fixtures of Japantown are still strong, (Soko Hardware, Benkyodo, Kinokuniya and the grocery stores) others have been lost and replaced. In the mall, a novelty, stainless-steel (read: useless) store has sprung up, next to a "As seen on TV" store. A few Korean restaurants and a Hawaiian restaurant has sprung up over dead Japanese ones. Japantown is not going to be completely lost; there will always be a steady flow of foreign national students who need a book or magazine, and some comfort food. It just will be less than it used to be.
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I was eating at the time. Pardon the fish-face.
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Wizard of Metals. Is that like an alchemist?
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The base of the crane.
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J-Pop Center. The Center for the Study of Modern Visual Culture?
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This is the giant crane that pretty much towers over everything in Japantown.
