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View Poll Results: What is your favorite Japantown/Japanese district?
Japantown, San Francisco, California 11 25.58%
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles 26 60.47%
Sawtelle Boulevard, Los Angeles 1 2.33%
Porter Square, Cambridge, Massachussetts 0 0%
International District, Seattle 4 9.30%
Japantown, San Jose 0 0%
Other 1 2.33%
Voters: 43. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 04-01-2013, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
I actually had some pretty good Thai food at Saray the last time I was out there, but I'll admit that's the only place I tried out there. I noticed there was a Vietnamese place, too, which was pretty surprising; I'll give that a whirl the next time I'm out there visiting the 'fam

Porter also has a couple pretty good Korean restuarants - Chocho in the Porter Exchange, nestled among the Japanese restaurants, had decent BBQ when I ate meat. Kaya, which is a couple blocks down Mass Ave, is definitely the largest and most formal/traditional Korean restaurant in the Boston area and also has really high quality food.

Boston has some pretty decent Chinese options scattered about and an increasing number of good Thai places - it also has a few Tibetan and Himalayan restaurants, which are tough to find in most cities. Try Annapurna in Cambridge the next time you're in town. Also, New Asia, which is along Mass Ave just outside of Harvard Square, near Mass Ave and Putnam - go on Yelp, and most of the reviews from snotty, unfunny, moron Yelpers whine about it being "boring" and not up to their asinine standards, but even considering that I live in a city that has some of the best Chinese food outside of Asia, I love going back there. Great lunch specials, a good buffet, and sublime vegetarian General Gao's/Tso's/Zor's/"chicken."

All this said... IMHO, Boston's standout exotic ethnic cuisine is Indian. The Indian restaurants around Boston and Cambridge make some pretty epic food; most of the East Asian offerings in Boston aren't up to snuff with what I'm used to out here in CA.
Agreed - and LA definitely lacks in that. My wife and I are freaking out because a good Indian place opened up around the corner from our apartment. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope it stays good.
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Old 04-01-2013, 06:41 PM
 
Location: NYC/LA
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Originally Posted by munchitup View Post
Agreed - and LA definitely lacks in that. My wife and I are freaking out because a good Indian place opened up around the corner from our apartment. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope it stays good.
There are a good concentration of amazing Indian food in Little India in Artesia. Best I've had anyway in the LA area.
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Old 04-01-2013, 07:10 PM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
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Originally Posted by jimmykem View Post
There are a good concentration of amazing Indian food in Little India in Artesia. Best I've had anyway in the LA area.
Yeah I was aware there is a Little India out that way. Never made it out there, I bet it is good.
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Old 04-01-2013, 07:30 PM
 
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I think the poll is correct I would rank Japantown in San Fransico and Los Angeles before Seattle . Seattle is more International not just one nationality.
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Old 04-01-2013, 07:48 PM
 
Location: Northern California
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Originally Posted by ironcouger View Post
I think the poll is correct I would rank Japantown in San Fransico and Los Angeles before Seattle . Seattle is more International not just one nationality.
I know the International District has different kinds of Asian cultures, not just Japanese. However, apparently there's a certain part of the ID that consists mainly of Japanese stores and restaurants.

I've also heard Fort Lee, NJ having the largest Japanese-American community in the NYC metropolitan area, and having a very large Japanese supermarket in a neighboring town called Edgewater. I don't know if New Jersey has what is considered a Japantown or Japanese district, but the Mitsuwa Marketplace - Edgewater, NJ is a very popular Japanese supermarket.
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Old 04-01-2013, 08:20 PM
 
Location: SoCal
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Gardena (just south of city of Los Angeles) used to have a huge Japanese-American presence. It's still there but the predominant Asian influence is now Korean. The center of gravity for South Bay J-A business is more in Torrance (which has also had a long J-A presence).

Orange County has had an historic J-A population, possibly linked to farming. Later, Japanese business folks followed the establishment of corporate outposts. I think Costa Mesa and Irvine might have a concentration of businesses although I have no idea if it can be considered a Japantown (I've never seen it).

Regarding Little Tokyo, although it used to be the nerve center for the Los Angeles J-A community, I really don't think very many Japanese-Americans or expats live or shop there (aside from retirees). I do see Asians walking around but they could easily be non-Japanese, not to mention all the non-Asian hipsters hanging out. Also, the big Woori Market complex is now Korean-owned and the original New Otani Hotel is a Doubletree. Little Tokyo will always have a historical importance but I don't know if it will be a Japantown in the long term (same thing happened to the multiple Little Italy's of Los Angeles). For some, it's a loss of a culture; for others it's the triumph of assimilation.

Last edited by drunk on kool aid; 04-01-2013 at 08:42 PM.. Reason: addition
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Old 04-01-2013, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Northern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drunk on kool aid View Post
Gardena (just south of city of Los Angeles) used to have a huge Japanese-American presence. It's still there but the predominant Asian influence is now Korean. The center of gravity for South Bay J-A business is more in Torrance (which has also had a long J-A presence).

Orange County has had an historic J-A population, possibly linked to farming. Later, Japanese business folks followed the establishment of corporate outposts. I think Costa Mesa and Irvine might have a concentration of businesses although I have no idea if it can be considered a Japantown (I've never seen it).

Regarding Little Tokyo, although it used to be the nerve center for the Los Angeles J-A community, I really don't think very many Japanese-Americans or expats live or shop there (aside from retirees). I do see Asians walking around but they could easily be non-Japanese, not to mention all the non-Asian hipsters hanging out. Also, the big Woori Market complex is now Korean-owned and the original New Otani Hotel is a Doubletree. Little Tokyo will always have a historical importance but I don't know if it will be a Japantown in the long term (same thing happened to the multiple Little Italy's of Los Angeles). For some, it's a loss of a culture; for others it's the triumph of assimilation.
I've actually never been to Little Tokyo in LA but I have heard plenty of good things about it. It doesn't surprise me though that there aren't many people of Japanese heritage living there now. As you've said, Torrance has a large population of Japanese Americans, and this is mainly due to the fact that American Honda Motor Company is headquartered there.

As far as Japantown in SF goes, there actually aren't really that many Japanese immigrants or people of Japanese descent living there now. Most of the Asians living there are of Chinese or Korean descent and I hear Cantonese or Mandarin there more than I do with Japanese in Japantown. Still though, there is plenty of Japanese culture left in Japantown.
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Old 04-01-2013, 10:10 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
Gardena's Japanese district is also centered around a shopping center
I'm not Japanese or even Asian, but I live near Gardena and go through there fairly often and I don't see that Japanese businesses in Gardena are "centered around a shopping center". There are actually several Asian/Japanese shopping centers in Gardena and Japanese businesses and residents throughout the area. It feels more American than Japanese for sure, but there are still quite a few Japanese residents in ever dwindling numbers. And as someone else mentioned, lots of Koreans there now too. Same with Little Tokyo. I don't understand why two peoples with supposed animosity are always next to each other. I guess that their cultures must be somewhat similar.
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Old 04-01-2013, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Northern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Easy View Post
I'm not Japanese or even Asian, but I live near Gardena and go through there fairly often and I don't see that Japanese businesses in Gardena are "centered around a shopping center". There are actually several Asian/Japanese shopping centers in Gardena and Japanese businesses and residents throughout the area. It feels more American than Japanese for sure, but there are still quite a few Japanese residents in ever dwindling numbers. And as someone else mentioned, lots of Koreans there now too. Same with Little Tokyo. I don't understand why two peoples with supposed animosity are always next to each other. I guess that their cultures must be somewhat similar.
I totally agree with you on that. A lot of countries that border each other have had animosity with each other. However, the Japanese population is dwindling in the US, mainly because there's isn't much reason for Japanese to move to the U.S. Japan is a pretty quality country to live in.

According to the 2010 Census, Gardena is 9.7% Japanese, compared to California's 0.7% Japanese-American as a whole. So Gardena has about 14 times more residents of Japanese heritage than CA's average proportion. Quite a large community still.
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Old 04-01-2013, 11:18 PM
 
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It's a shame what happened to the Japanese with all the interment camps. There could've been huge Japantowns all over the US.
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