The Japantown Mural Project is a celebration of the vibrancy of San Jose's historic Japantown neighborhood through artworks by 50 local artists.
The environment is a barren, undeveloped plot of land that once served as the City of San Jose's Maintenance Yard. Chain-link fencing is now covered with more than 60 large mesh panels of color.
It stretches a quarter of a city block along 6th and Jackson Streets in the heart of Japantown.
The subject matter is highly interpretive, including personal and commissioned works, and encompasses a wide variety of mediums and aesthetics. It also includes references to the site's former life; 100 years ago,
it was one of San Jose's very first Chinatown settlements known as 'Heinlenville.' A majority of the artists maintain art studios in Japantown, have displayed their artwork in neighborhood galleries, or consider this wonderful place their home.
The Japantown Mural Project is truly representative of its own unique community and will be enjoyed and appreciated for years to come.
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The Artwork
These photos are part of a series that captures the small, vibrant details of Japantown. Living in this neighborhood is a sensory experience. Walk down the street and you're met with the aroma of delicious food, clean sidewalks, bright flowers, and people who move with purpose but not haste. The flavor of Japan is everywhere from the benches and banners to the happy candy packaging on the market shelves. Kids clamor for bright mountains of shave ice and ukelele music drifts from Smiley's shop. Rows of kokeshi dolls sit waiting patiently. A man walks down the street with buckets of fresh tofu, and unhurried customers peruse the shops for Obon fans and kachi kachi. The sushi restaurants open their display cases of colorful faux nigiri and sashimi at dinner time. I love all of these bits and pieces.
Biography
I am a freelance photographer and blogger. I lived in Japantown for 6 years and fell in love with the neighborhood and people. There will always be a part of me in Japantown, no matter where I go.
Japantown Community Congress of San Jose · Office of the Consulate General of Japan · Wesley United Methodist Church
Jack's Bar & Lounge · Dr. Stephani Nguyen of Japantown Dental · Kay's Shiseido · Dr. Jerrold Hiura & Lucia Cha
Contemporary Asian Theater Scene · Japantown Neighborhood Association · Union Bank of California · Chris & Minako Tsuji
Japanese American Museum of San Jose · Yu Ai Kai Senior Center · Banana Crepe · Halcrow Partners · Pan Pacific Bank · Alex Alsorady & Darcie Kiyan
Sophie Horiuchi Forrester · Helen Hayashi · Roy & PJ Hirabayashi · Aggie Idemoto · Reiko Iwanaga · Jeanne Katsuro · Tamon Norimoto · Kristin Okimoto
Jeffrey Oldham · John Ristow · Rev. Gerald & Kathy Sakamoto · Victoria Taketa · Leah Toeniskoetter · Joe Yasutake
Japantown Community Congress of San Jose · The City of San Jose Arts Commission · Dr. Jerrold Hiura · The Rast Family
Corinne Okada Takara · Ruth Tunstall-Grant · Cherri Lakey · DJ Ashford
Empire Seven Studios · The Arsenal · Sign-a-Rama of Downtown San Jose
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