Neighborhood in San Jose · Santa Clara County
Japantown
San Jose’s Japantown centers on North Fifth and Jackson streets north of City Hall.
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Japanese American Museum of San Jose in Japantown — June 2017
Japanese American Museum of San Jose in Japantown — June 2017
Creator: Mark Yasuda
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Changes: Resized and converted to WebP; may be cropped for display.
Jackson Street businesses, Japanese American history and the North First Street rail connection
About Japantown
San Jose’s Japantown centers on North Fifth and Jackson streets north of City Hall. Its shops, restaurants and community institutions share a neighborhood whose history connects Japanese, Chinese and Filipino residents. The Japanese American Museum of San Jose provides a local history destination, while Japantown/Ayer light rail station sits farther west on North First Street.
Jackson Street and the neighborhood’s layered history
North Fifth and Jackson streets form Japantown’s commercial center, with businesses and community institutions north of City Hall. The neighborhood grew beside Heinlenville, a Chinatown that provided homes for Chinese residents displaced from earlier settlements.
San Jose Public Library’s history describes Japanese laborers finding lodging in Heinlenville in the 1890s, and Filipino residents and businesses arriving later. Surviving older buildings on North Sixth Street connect that history with today’s neighborhood.
A museum of Japanese American experience
The Japanese American Museum of San Jose stands at 535 North Fifth Street. Permanent and changing exhibits follow immigration, agricultural life and Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
The museum also examines the challenges of rebuilding lives and contributing to West Coast communities. The exterior photograph shows the museum in June 2017.
Japantown/Ayer is on North First Street
VTA lists Japantown/Ayer light rail station at 501 North First Street. That places the rail stop west of the Fifth and Jackson commercial center, with the museum and many neighborhood destinations farther east.
Check these on a visit
Try these in person before you commit to an address in Japantown.
- Locate North Fifth and Jackson streets as the commercial-center starting point.
- Include the museum at 535 North Fifth Street for Japanese American history.
- Find the North First Street light rail stop separately from the Fifth Street destinations.
Neighborhoods and districts near Japantown
The closest neighborhoods and districts in San Jose, measured center to center.
Sources & data notesReferences, reporting periods, and how to use this information
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Statistics keep their reporting periods. Survey estimates are not current asking prices or quotes for an individual property. Displayed values are rounded.
- North Fifth and Jackson center and relationship to light railJapantown Business Association — Neighborhood locationSource checked
- Chinese, Japanese and Filipino neighborhood history; historical account not used for current vacant-site claimsSan Jose Public Library — From Heinlenville to JapantownSource checked
- Immigration, agricultural communities and World War II incarcerationJapanese American Museum of San Jose — ExhibitionsSource checked
- Museum at 535 North Fifth StreetJapanese American Museum of San Jose — VisitSource checked
- Rail station identity and locationVTA — Japantown/Ayer StationSource checked
- Japantown/Ayer address at 501 North First StreetVTA — Light rail station addressesSource checked
Photo credits
- Japanese American Museum of San Jose in Japantown — June 2017Image credits and license
Japanese American Museum of San Jose in Japantown — June 2017
Creator: Mark Yasuda
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Changes: Resized and converted to WebP; may be cropped for display.