Which CA city for American husband, Japanese wife, and American-born son (San Jose: best city, rental)

[Masamune]

I'm thinking about moving from Philadelphia to CA and would appreciate your advice about which cities I should consider.

As the title says, I'm American, my wife is Japanese (she came to the US with me 11 years ago), and my son was born in the US shortly after she arrived. We've done okay in Philly, but the greater Asian presence and influence in southern CA cities would suit us better. I don't have much doubt about my son and I being comfortable, but I want to pick the best city for my wife. She'll always be very close to her Japanese culture and would be happiest in an area plenty of Japanese people (to include Japanese-Americans) and reasonably authentic groceries and restaurants. If there were a shop nearby with some Japanese staff, she might even consider working there. Would a particular southern CA city be best, or any particular area in one of those cities?

[2sleepy]

That's sort of vague, it might help if you offered your housing budget and whether or not you will be looking for a job and what kind of work you do. this is a list of US cities with the highest concentration of residents born in Japan
http://www.city-data.com/top2/h76.html

[jk88cal]

I can speak about northern California:

San Mateo. There are 2 Japanese markets (Subuki & Nijiya). San Mateo library has a small collection of Japanese books, but much more than other libraries. There are many Japanese restaurants downtown.

San Jose area. There are several Japanese markets. Mitsuwa in San Jose, Nijiya in San Jose, Marukai in Cupertino, Nijiya in Mountain View. San Jose has a Japantown, but it is just for restaurants and not much going on.

In meeting and making Japanese friends, you have to make an effort. There is no location (at least in northern California) with a lot of Japanese. So you have to join some clubs or groups to meet other Japanese. Or if you send your kid to Japanese after school or weekend school, then that's another good way to meet other Japanese parents.

By the way, when you say Japanese-American, do you mean Japanese who are born in USA? There are some long term Japanese residents who came to US prior to WW2. Japanese immigrates don't have much in common with Japanese-American. They do not speak Japanese nor associate much with Japanese culture.

[saibot]

There are quite a few Japanese shops, markets, and many restaurants in south Orange County. There is a cluster in Tustin around El Camino Real. I stop in at the bakery there, Cream Pan, once a week and it is always cram-full of Japanese people speaking Japanese (I speak some, so I know they are not Chinese or Korean). I would recommend looking around there.

[bmw335xi]

San Francisco / Bay Area (San Mateo) would be the most similar to Japan. It has a slight Tokyo feel, just smaller version.

[HappyinCali]

Yes, San Jose area of NorCal has multiple Japanese stores as pointed out. San Francisco has a tiny Japantown, but I don't think there is a massive concentration of Japanese people around it.

There is also this in LA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tokyo,_Los_Angeles

[Masamune]

Thanks for your helpful replies.

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

it might help if you offered your housing budget and whether or not you will be looking for a job and what kind of work you do.

I work in HR and would have a job in hand before making the move. I'd want to rent and would need to keep it under $2,000. I realize that might be tight for most urban CA areas.

Originally Posted by jk88cal

By the way, when you say Japanese-American, do you mean Japanese who are born in USA? ... Japanese immigrates don't have much in common with Japanese-American. They do not speak Japanese nor associate much with Japanese culture.

I mean US-born people of Japanese descent. I know that many of them are like any other 3rd or 4th generation American and have no association with Japanese culture. But it might be helpful for my wife to experience a community of such Japanese-American people, even if they can't directly relate to each other.

I was stationed at Travis AFB in the 90's and got to know the Bay Area. She and I took a vacation in SF while we were engaged, and we both liked the area. But I get the impression that it's a lot different now. It doesn't matter, because SF's cost of living is beyond our current means.

[2sleepy]

How about Sacramento? It would be far easier to find a decent rental in your price range than it would in some of the other areas that have been mentioned.

15.8% of the population is Asian, but I can't find a further breakdown

Here's an old thread from city-data about the same subject: Japanese presense at all in Sacramento? Or good Asian presense?

Sacramento Japanese Meetup (Sacramento, CA) - Meetup

Buddhist Church of Sacramento Bazaar

[BeauCharles]

TORRANCE! Big Japanese community and decent schools.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrance,_California

[Joe33]

Yes, Torrance or Gardena. Lots of Japanese everything.