Japanese presense at all in Sacramento? Or good Asian presense? (Los Angeles: how much, home)

[Tiger Beer]

Actually statistically, it appears that Sacramento is around 16-17% Asian...which I LIKE. How much of a presense do they really have?

Additionally, and perhaps a bit more interesting to me. I'm white American who has lived in Asia for years, and currently living in Japan with a wife and son. My son is currently an infant, but I plan to be in Japan for another 5 years or so, where he'll know a lot of Japanese. Is there a sizeable enough Japanese influence in Sacramento where he could use or practice Japanese in some kind of Japanese community or business community or something? Or not really?

If not, how is the general Asian population IN FEEL beyond the statistics? Do they seem prevalent? Or are they mostly just in the suburbs with seemingly little presense/influence on Sacramento?

[ndfmnlf]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Actually statistically, it appears that Sacramento is around 16-17% Asian...which I LIKE. How much of a presense do they really have?

Additionally, and perhaps a bit more interesting to me. I'm white American who has lived in Asia for years, and currently living in Japan with a wife and son. My son is currently an infant, but I plan to be in Japan for another 5 years or so, where he'll know a lot of Japanese. Is there a sizeable enough Japanese influence in Sacramento where he could use or practice Japanese in some kind of Japanese community or business community or something? Or not really?

If not, how is the general Asian population IN FEEL beyond the statistics? Do they seem prevalent? Or are they mostly just in the suburbs with seemingly little presense/influence on Sacramento?

Hi,

I don't live in Sacramento, though I have family and friends there. I'm a white guy myself (of Irish Catholic descent) who prefers to live in a diverse city, especially with lots of Asians. I grew up in LA and my closest friends (make that, girlfriends hehe...) have been Asian. I have also travelled to Asia extensively.

Sacramento and surrounding suburbs have a strong Asian presence. I believe it's primarily Chinese and Filipino (or it could be Filipino, then Chinese...pls check the stats). There are also Vietnamese and Japanese in the area. The congresswoman that represents Sacramento county is Doris Matsui - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a Japanese American.

To the south of Sacramento is Elk Grove which is also heavily Asian (primarily Filipino and Vietnamese). Further south to Stockton is another Asian-heavy (ie Filipino) city. I learned that the Filipinos arrived in Stockton early in the 20th century as farm workers and have been there ever since.

Anyways, if a strong Asian community is what you are looking for, you can't go wrong with Sacramento and its envrions.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Actually statistically, it appears that Sacramento is around 16-17% Asian...which I LIKE. How much of a presense do they really have?

Additionally, and perhaps a bit more interesting to me. I'm white American who has lived in Asia for years, and currently living in Japan with a wife and son. My son is currently an infant, but I plan to be in Japan for another 5 years or so, where he'll know a lot of Japanese. Is there a sizeable enough Japanese influence in Sacramento where he could use or practice Japanese in some kind of Japanese community or business community or something? Or not really?

If not, how is the general Asian population IN FEEL beyond the statistics? Do they seem prevalent? Or are they mostly just in the suburbs with seemingly little presense/influence on Sacramento?

There are strong communities of both Japanese and Kopreans in Sacramento. ASs is not uncommon they tend to congregate together in certain parts of the city but they're visible and involved.

I should add the caveate that perhaps they're visible to me because I seek them out, primarily to purchase foods I remember and enjoy from both countries, but I've run across them all over. It give me a nice opportunity to speak a wee bit in their languages which always seems to please them.

As for influence, it's there both politically and by virtue of numbers. There are many Hmong and Mien in the area. Vietnamese abound and Sacramento has always had a large Chinese presence but the Japanese and Koreans are here.

[kiwilover70]

I have a home in the Pocket neighborhood in Sacramento and it has a large asian population,especially Japanese .My 2 older children are half-chinese (ex husband) and the majority of their friends are asian. The elemantary school in our neighborhood which my dtr was attended has a large majority of Japanese kids(Matsuyama Elementary).They are mostly all third generation. The school has a sister city with an elementary school in Japan .They have a japanese culture club and a cherry blossom festival in the Spring.She was in the club one year and they learned some dances,language and even did a satellite feed to the school and spoke to the kids in Japan.
I am caucasion but have always been very connected to the Asian culture in Sacramento due to my family connection. There is the Pacific Rim festival each year,celebrating all groups within the term Asian:Chinese,Japanese,Philipino,Vietnamese,Tongan ,Hawaiin etc...I have always felt a part of this community and greatly miss it since I have been away. It is very different in other parts of the country.

[Shope]

Lots of asians, especially in the pocket/greenhaven area and Elk Grove.

[edwardius]

You can find a map of people of Japanese ancestry at Social Explorer. Click on Maps, than choose 2000 Census tract map. Then choose Asian and Hispanic groups. That will bring up a sub menu of the Japanese (or other asian groups if you so desire). Then zoom in on the Sacramento region or other regions of the country that you might be interested in.

Social Explorer

[Majin]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Actually statistically, it appears that Sacramento is around 16-17% Asian...which I LIKE.

Yes there are lot of Asians in Sacramento and this is the most diverse city in the country.

Welcome to America's Most Diverse City - TIME

But given the fact that you already looked at the statistics yourself why did you feel the need to make this thread? Did you think somehow Sacramento was 16% Asian but on the ground level they are all hidden?

[edwardius]

The majority of immigration from Japan in this region occurred before WW2. In that era, learning English and not learning Japanese was considered proof that you were a loyal American. By the third generation a lot of the language proficiency is lost. In Los Angeles, San Francisco and possibly Seattle there are stronger commercial ties to Japan and the Japanese communities in those areas have stronger immigrant flows which keeps the language base stronger.

Locally the Buddhist Church offers language instruction. But I don't know how strong the program really is.

Home

If you are trying to sustain cultural attachments to Japan, you might have better luck in San Francisco.

Alan Watts taught at the American Academy of Asian Studies which later became the California Institute of Integral Studies. Between the Beats interest in Buddhism and the historic Japanese community in the bay area as well as other facilities like the zen center, there is just a much bigger chunk of infrastructure for Japanese culture in the bay area. In the Sacramento region the forces of cultural assimilation are just much stronger.

California Institute of Integral Studies

Green Gulch Farm - San Francisco Zen Center

[deuterdu]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Actually statistically, it appears that Sacramento is around 16-17% Asian...which I LIKE. How much of a presense do they really have?

Additionally, and perhaps a bit more interesting to me. I'm white American who has lived in Asia for years, and currently living in Japan with a wife and son. My son is currently an infant, but I plan to be in Japan for another 5 years or so, where he'll know a lot of Japanese. Is there a sizeable enough Japanese influence in Sacramento where he could use or practice Japanese in some kind of Japanese community or business community or something? Or not really?

If not, how is the general Asian population IN FEEL beyond the statistics? Do they seem prevalent? Or are they mostly just in the suburbs with seemingly little presense/influence on Sacramento?

Pocket /Greenhaven area has a high concentration of Asian and other ethnic groups. I personally have mixed feelings about whether it is nice after living there for 7 years (I found SWAT in my backyard twice telling me not to leave my home trying to apprehend an attempted murder suspect and on the other occasion a bank robber). Many people enjoy living there but IMO it is not a suburb-pretty close to downtown

[sunrise82]

OK. I am a Japanese living in Sacramento. If you want your kid to continue expose himself or herself in Japanese culture in Sacrmaento, my answer is "Yes you can".

If your kind is really fluent in Japanese, you can send him/her to Japanese School run by a Sac State teacher with Japanese Government help. It is a real Japanese school on Saturday. It is located on Sac State campus. All the kinds are required to be fluent in Japanese. They teach Math, Science, Social Studies, and Japanese in one day, actually half day. The speed is the same as any school in Japan. Yes you kind is supposed to finish 10 hour homework to keep up with Japanese speed.

Of course, your kind will attend a regular school from Mon though Friday. Then attend an additional school on Saturday. This school was designed for the kids of Japanese business mmen, who have to go back to their Japanese school in Japan without any delay in their study.

My kids went to the school, survived and enjoy being fully bilingual (read, write and speak academically).

There is one Japanese supermarket on Freeport. There are many Korean super markets that sell Japanese stuff.

Japanese people tend to live in Folsom CA or Roseville, or Lincoln. There aren't many Japanese in South Sacramento where tons of Asians live.