jon_chaisson | Weekend Update Heads to Japantown Today

Japantown has always been one of my favorite places in the city. It's not as overcrowded and eye-catching as Chinatown, not as amazing as the view from Twin Peaks, and it's not over-the-top touristy like our old neighborhood of Fisherman's Wharf. It's a smallish number of blocks, but it's got a lot of charm. Most of it is a shopping center filled with Japan-centric things (including a home furnishings store called 'All Things Japan', heh), a giant Kinokuniya Bookstore (where I get my manga most of the time) and OH MY GOD THE FOOD. So many restaurants, from the little coffee hut that serves loco moco, to the one on the pedestrian bridge that serves spaghetti and plays Studio Ghibli movies on their monitors all day long, to a big Benihana that all the tourists go to, and of course my favorite, Izumiya, which makes a version of okonomiyaki called 'modern yaki' (aka modan-yaki) that is ridiculously filling and tasty. It also has a Peace Tower, a multiplex movie theater (the AMC Kabuki), a number of street-level stores, a hotel* and a home for senior citizens. I love going there, because the atmosphere is always fun.

And this weekend and next, it's having its Cherry Blossom Festival! A. and I have been going to it the last few years because it's such a blast. They shut down Post and Webster Streets for a few blocks and fill it with tons of food stalls, local artists, neighborhood groups and whatnot. They even had a stall dedicated to owners of shiba inus, which was ridiculously cute. They also have a few performance stages for local bands, dancers and performers. It's a hell of a lot of fun. We usually stay there for a good couple of hours, just hanging out and watching the sites.

We'll be heading there later this morning, so I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun and eating a lot of tasty food!

* - Music Trivia Time! This hotel was where the Sex Pistols broke up. Their last show was at the Winterland Ballroom, which used to be just down the street at the corner of Post and Steiner. It was torn down decades ago and is now an apartment complex. The Winterland, by the way, was also known for being the location of many classic live albums, including Frampton Comes Alive and The Last Waltz. That neighborhood really does have a neat history!