San Francisco’s Japantown, known to some as Nihonmachi ... But, the city’s first Japantown was actually in SoMa (South of Market Street). The first Japanese immigrants arrived in 1869.

Founded in 1906, San Francisco’s Japantown was the first Japanese American community to settle and establish itself in the United States. San Francisco’s Japantown (Nihonmachi) has been the ...