I've spent a lot of time in and around the Japan Center mall during this project, and I've found a number of troubling problems with the way business is conducted in the area. For several years there has been significant concern among the merchants and regular customers that the area might undergo significant changes, worries which became serious in late 2000 when an outside corporate interest bought up two-thirds of the mall. Only the Kinokuniya building remains in the hands of its original owners, and even then only because the Kinokuniya parent corporation in Japan finds it profitable to keep their satellite U.S. bookstore open.
A number of community activist organizations have sprung up since the buyout, most notably the Japantown Task Force which was established to directly obstruct the ability of 3D to pursue new development in the region without community approval. The Task Force often organizes local residents and merchants to enforce attempts to maintain the area's strong cultural hegemony, including keeping many outside franchises from establishing footholds in the mall and blocking developers (either working with 3D Investments or the city) from building new housing in the area.
While I appreciate the desire of those in and around the mall to maintain the cultural atmosphere they've worked so hard to create, I seriously question the logic of excluding new business opportunities while at the same time lamenting the lack of economic vibrancy. Several businesses have closed in the past few years that have not re-opened, and many more are struggling to maintain profitability. Commerce in the area is generated from two primary sources: tourists trading on the afore-mentioned atmosphere and Japanese-American citizens who desire the specialty products sold at ethnic retailers like Nijiya and Kinokuniya.
Attracting new business is the Japan Center's primary goal if it is to survive, and while the residents has taken admirable strides by pursuing community enrichment programs like citizen clean-up and the Better Neighborhood Plan, much more needs to be done. The JTF recently sponsored a petition to block Starbucks from opening a new franchis on Post St., yet trendy coffee shops would seem a surefire way to attract younger clientele. The Task Force also worked against the construction of a new apartment complex at 1481 Post two years ago, and they continue to veto plans by 3D Investment developer EDAW Inc. because they propose to build new housing structures above the mall.
Yet when I spoke to a member of the Task Force about these issues, he specifically cited the isolation of Japantown as one of the primary problems in attracting repeat business. "There's no strong residential base to support merchants," said Darryl Abantao, yet they repeatedly block new housing efforts. They complain of a lack of multi-generational social spaces (i.e. rec centers, playgrounds, or ) yet the community has a history of exercising their veto right (as delineated by Supervisor Mirkarimi's legislation designating the area a "special use" district) to keep new business opportunities out of the mall and surrounding community.
This is a serious problem, and I wonder if groups like the JTF are making the right decision in keeping the area closed to businesses not in keeping with their homogenous atmosphere. I know they wield a significant amount of influence, because uniting the various commercial interests in the area is no mean feat; for example, while the mall building itself is divided among two owners the parking garage is owned by the Municipal Transit Authority, the Peace Plaze is under the jurisdiction of Park & Rec and the office complexes across Geary are owned by a group of Korean doctors. If these disparate elements can come together to keep unwelcome influences out, they could certainly develop a more constructive plan to bring new business to the area. I feel strongly about this issue because San Francisco has the largest and most vibrant nihonmachi of the three left in the U.S., and if it is demolished to make room for a generic strip mall or movie theater the future looks bleak for those in San Jose and New York.
Do you agree? I encourage those interested in the future of the neighborhood to contact the organizations linked in this article and on the link directory.