2025
Ong, Paul M.; Morales, Bryzen Enzo; Pech, Chhandara; Yoon, Anne; Lee, Naya
Japantowns in California: Historical Trajectories and Post-War Reestablishment Working paper
2025.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Japanese American history, Japantowns, Little Tokyo, post-war reestablishment, Sacramento, San Francisco, UCLA AASC
@workingpaper{nokey,
title = {Japantowns in California: Historical Trajectories and Post-War Reestablishment},
author = {Paul M. Ong and Bryzen Enzo Morales and Chhandara Pech and Anne Yoon and Naya Lee},
url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/UCLA_CNK_Japantowns_July2025.pdf},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-07-01},
urldate = {2025-07-01},
abstract = {This report documents the history and post-war reestablishment of three Japantowns—Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, Sacramento’s Japantown, and San Francisco’s Nihonmachi. Drawing on 1940 and 1950 Census records, it examines how these communities were dismantled during World War II incarceration and later rebuilt in the face of housing shortages, local opposition, and policies discouraging reconcentration. The findings highlight both the demographic and socioeconomic shifts that occurred, as well as the resilience of Japanese Americans in preserving cultural and community life despite systemic racial barriers.},
keywords = {Japanese American history, Japantowns, Little Tokyo, post-war reestablishment, Sacramento, San Francisco, UCLA AASC},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}
This report documents the history and post-war reestablishment of three Japantowns—Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, Sacramento’s Japantown, and San Francisco’s Nihonmachi. Drawing on 1940 and 1950 Census records, it examines how these communities were dismantled during World War II incarceration and later rebuilt in the face of housing shortages, local opposition, and policies discouraging reconcentration. The findings highlight both the demographic and socioeconomic shifts that occurred, as well as the resilience of Japanese Americans in preserving cultural and community life despite systemic racial barriers.