I've always loved Japantown. There's the Kabuki spa, the movie theater, and then the Japantown shopping center in a wooden building meant to replicate traditional Japanese architecture. That's all fine and good, but Japan today hardly looks like that. Many of the gorgeous wood buildings have been destroyed, and Tokyo is the prototype of modern pop culture - bright lights, bold architecture, hip fashion.
For a long time, San Francisco's Japantown seemed, well, kind of left behind in the past. Enter New People.
New People is an attempt to bring modern Japanese popular culture into the mix, and I have to say, I think it's successful. It's a shopping center/theater/art gallery/cafe, and it stands directly opposite the old Japantown shopping center.
Street level is the cafe and the movie theater entrance. The billing is all Japanese with English subtitles, and coming from someone whose kids are more familiar with Studio Ghibli than Disney, that's fabulous. Up a small flight of stairs, you'll find a shop carrying Japanese gifty stuff. Origami, miniature dolls, cute mugs, headphones, etc. I immediately made up my mind to shop there for the next White Elephant party I attend.
The next floor offers fashion straight from Tokyo. I'm talking sickeningly cute clothes - pink frilly frocks and bonnets that look like they were made for little girls but in grown girl sizes, right next to more gothic or punkrock inspired fashions. Add some traditional Japanese toe-shoes in modern prints and some cool jewelry, and well, you could do some damage here.
The art gallery occupies to the top floor. The exhibit changes roughly every two months, with some smaller exhibits interspersed here and there for special events like the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Gentleman - read this carefully - this place would make an awesome date. Catch a foreign film, look at cute Japanese stuff, see art, then grab some ramen across the street. Your partner will be most pleased, guaranteed.
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