Researching: Japanese community / population in Spokane? (Seattle, Highland: fit in, home, neighborhoods)

[mishua]

Hi all,

My family and I are considering moving to another part of the US, and I'm researching Japanese communities...

My wife is from Japan; I am from New York. We're raising our daughter to be multi-lingual, so I wanted to see how immersed she could possibly be in Japanese language outside of the home. Furthermore, among the many cuisines we like to eat, Japanese is naturally at the top of the list. I'm curious to know if there are some restaurants and Japanese groceries for ingredients for home cooking.

I'm hoping anyone can share

[ssincity]

Originally Posted by mishua

Hi all,

My family and I are considering moving to another part of the US, and I'm researching Japanese communities...

My wife is from Japan; I am from New York. We're raising our daughter to be multi-lingual, so I wanted to see how immersed she could possibly be in Japanese language outside of the home. Furthermore, among the many cuisines we like to eat, Japanese is naturally at the top of the list. I'm curious to know if there are some restaurants and Japanese groceries for ingredients for home cooking.

I'm hoping anyone can share

We are in the same boat. Looking to move from Nashville Tn back to the West Coast. I am Japanese American, many of my family members were interned at Manzanar during WWII. My wife is caucasian so our family is mixed.

We are considering Spokane or back to Reno NV so that we can drive into Calif and go to events such as the Obon at the San Jose Buddhists Church and shop at the stores there and give our kids some culture other than "The South shall rise again" No offense ones heritage but its just not for us. Our only draw back to Reno is now our children are in school and NV doesn't have the best school system but it still seems that many kids do just fine out of hs and onto college so we are back and forth over it.

We by chance met a family here in TN that was on vacation from Spokane and was Japanese mixed also The wife and I had the same last name, but it is the "Smith" or "Jones" of Japan so not overly surprised but they said that they make a monthly trip to Seattle to shop and take ice chest and cooler bags. She said that there is no real community like a "J-Town"

My wife and I used to play Taiko when we lived out West but Nashville no longer has a Taiko group. In my research I did find that Spokane has or had a Taiko group and that excites us!

Sorry I could not have been more help but thought that I would share what I had found in doing some of my research.

Best of luck and if you make it there before we do then please post something on what you found life to be like in Spokane.

[Yeledaf]

There is an active Japanese-American community in Spokane, including a Shin Buddhist church and a Methodist church (Highland Park) with a predominately nissei/sansei congregation. In addition, a major Japanese university (Mukogawa Womens) has operated a large US branch in Spokane since 1990. At any given time, there are two to four hundred Japanese coeds on campus who would provide opportunities for your daughter as language partners.

Spokane earned a reputation as a welcoming community for internees in the post-war era, and the core of the issei/nisei people from that era were from other areas in the western U.S. who relocated in Spokane.

Restaurant-wise, Spokane is bleak. There are really only two authentic Japanese places in Spokane: Sushi Dot Com downtown, and Yuzen on the northside. There are a handful of so-called "fusion" Japanese retaurants (Nudo, Ginger, etc), but their cuisine is sweetened and Americanized beyond recognition. There are plenty of good Asian grocery stores, though. No problem obtaining miso, yakisoba noodles, Bulldog sauce, seaweed, mochi, etc.

The woman described in ssincity's post sounds like some of our friends! She undoubtedly does her shopping at Uwajimiya in Seattle (about a four or five hour drive) to buy sushi materials -- and fresh fish -- not readily available in Spokane. Given the sky-high cost of living in Seattle compared to Spokane, it really makes sense to use Seattle as a shopping destination while living in Spokane in twice as nice a home for half as much money!

And yes, there two Taiko groups in Spokane, and an active Japan Week organization, which sponsors a week-long cultural festival each April.

You'll find Spokane a good fit in most respects. Be prepared for long and cold winters, though. Good luck and ganbatte!

Here are some useful links:

Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute

HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History

http://www.spokanebuddhisttemple.org

Highland Park UMC

Yuzen, Spokane - Reviews, Phone Number & Photos - TripAdvisor

https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneTaiko

http://www.japanweekspokane.com

http://www.spokanejacl.org

[ssincity]

Yeledaf, I might have not worded it correctly. I am saying that she said that there is no designated part of the city that is Japanese based. Such as China Town or "J Town" is to LA.

But thank you so much for those links as they will help us with our process!

[Yeledaf]

Originally Posted by ssincity

Yeledaf, I might have not worded it correctly. I am saying that she said that there is no designated part of the city that is Japanese based. Such as China Town or "J Town" is to LA.

But thank you so much for those links as they will help us with our process!

She's right. Spokane has no true ethnic neighborhoods. It is a very very straight caucasian city, with everything that that implies. Fortunately, it is very safe and generally quite tolerant of racial and cultural difference. Judging from the tone of your post, I think you'd have no trouble developing a circle of friends in Spokane. If you do decide to visit or relocate, send me a personal message on C-D. My wife and I are a racially mixed couple and we are happy in Spokane...