J-POP CULTURE PLANTS ROOTS IN SAN FRANCISCO'S JAPANTOWN AMID EXCITING FANFARE

Friday night, August 14

It all starts Friday night, at 8:15 pm, with a free outdoor screening of the wacky, fun film, Kamikaze Girls, at the Japantown Peace Plaza, Post and Buchanan Streets. The event celebrates the grand opening on Saturday, August 15, of the NEW PEOPLE building in Japantown and the presentation of the J-Pop Summit Festival 2009. Written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, Kamikaze Girls is one of the best reviewed Japanese films to be released in the US in recent years. Click here for more information about the film.

Saturday, August 15
THE NEW PEOPLE BUILDING OPENS

At NEW PEOPLE--a 20,000 square foot building distinguished by its striking three-story transparent glass façade—you'll find the latest examples of Japanese popular culture expressed through film, art, fashion, and special events.

A spacious, 143 seat cinema is housed on the building's lower level and an entire floor is devoted to several distinctive boutiques showcasing trendsetting clothing labels from Japan. The Building also houses a café, an inventive NEW PEOPLE retail store, and a 2,000 square foot art gallery providing an important venue for a new generation of artists inspired by Japanese pop culture. After a ribbon cutting, the building will open to the public for the first time.

Saturday, August 15
J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL WILL FILL THE STREETS OF JAPANTOWN

Hosted by NEW PEOPLE in cooperation with the Japantown Merchants Association, the event will be an exciting, all day, outdoor, J-pop-culture-themed Festival with activities filling Post Street from Webster to Buchanan.

Come to the Festival, visit the NEW PEOPLE building, and enjoy a whole range of Japanese pop culture…live music, performance artists, films, and fashion. And, of course, there will be food booths! Bring family and friends. Admission is free.

Click here for more information about the NEW PEOPLE building and the J-Pop Summit Festival.

Sunday Night, August 16
Japan Nite Special Girls Rock Explosion at Yoshi's SF!

NEW PEOPLE teams up with Japanese music label Benten and Japan Nite! Introducing SXSW favorites and leading Japanese indies girl bands "Red Bacteria Vacuum," "noodles," and "TsuShiMaMiRe." Also on the agenda is the Harajuku Kawaii Experience, a performance collaboration by art group 6%DOKIDOKI and electronic gadget extraordinaire "Omodaka." As part of the NEW PEOPLE building grand opening celebration, Yoshi's San Francisco opens its doors to this unusual line-up. Come party, dance, and head bang to some Japanese girl rockers rocking out! Click here for more information.

NEW RESTAURANTS IN JAPANTOWN

Dosa on Fillmore
1700 Fillmore Street
415-441-3672

DOSA, San Francisco's first South Indian Restaurant, has opened a second location on the corner of Post and Fillmore Streets. The popular and widely acclaimed new restaurant, stradling the City's burgeoning Fillmore district and Japantown, continues to explore the broad and diverse reaches of the South Indian culinary landscape. For further information, visit www.dosasf.com.

bushi-tei bistro
Japan Center Kinokuniya Bldg.
1581 Webster Street (Post St.) San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: 415-409-4959

This recently opened restaurant is a worthy spin-off of the original award-winning bushi-tei.  It's more casual and moderately priced, though, and its menu is more Pan Asian.

GETTING IN SHAPE

Tuesday, August 18, 4 pm
YOSAKOI SORAN WORKSHOP

Physical education instructors from Japan's TOSS Physical Education Yosakoi Soran Research Society will present a free workshop where they will explain and demonstrate how children can improve their physical coordination and movement through choreographed team folk dancing. The activity has been successfully incorporated into elementary school curricula throughout Japan and its popularity is on the rise. This year in June, the 18th Annual Yosakoi Soran Festival was held in Sapporo. Thirty-three thousand people and 316 teams participated in this growing event.

Tuesday's workshop will be held in the Issei Memorial Hall at the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter Street, in San Francisco’s Japantown.

To sign up for the Workshop, please contact. Mr. Ken Maeshiro, JCCCNC at (415) 567-5505.  Advanced registration recommended.  Space is limited.

For inquiries about the workshop, please contact Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan, at (415) 777-3533 or japaninfo@cgjsf.org

This newsletter is brought to you by:

Japan Center Garage Corporation
1610 Geary Boulevard,
San Francisco, CA 94115
T: (415) 567-4573 | F: (415) 567-1004
info@japantownparking.com

For more information, please visit: www.sfjapantown.org

   

 

P.S. It's easy to reach Japantown by public transportation or car, and parking is available at the Japan Center Garage. Please be aware that availability may be limited on festival days.