The Lost Kinjo — Disappearing Japanese Neighborhoods

Welcome to Lost Kinjo, a year-long project to uncover a little-known chapter of Japanese American community.

California once thrived with more than 40 different Japanese American neighborhoods or kinjo prior to WWII. They have all disappeared.

Over the next year, we will tell the stories of these Lost Kinjo or neighborhoods and discover why Japanese Americans left and where they went.

AsAmNews gained its inspiration from Preserving California Japantowns, a project by Donna Graves and Jill Shiraki. The two worked tirelessly to identify the neighborhoods and to preserve its history.

This project is funded by the California State Library Japanese American Civil Liberties Program and the Takahashi Family Foundation.

Timeline

How the ‘Tokyo of the West’ disappeared in Vacaville, CA

By Jeanne Mariani-Belding (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War II....

History of Santa Ana, CA Japantown filled with good, bad & ugly.

By Kiyomi Casey (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War II....

Japantown in Watsonville, CA endured a violent history

By Michelle Shen (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War II....

Japanese Americans built fishing pier near Santa Monica

By Aviral Gokool (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War II....

Lost Salinas Japantown thrived as a farming center in California

By Raymond Douglas Chong (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War...

Historic farmhouse gets 1 year reprieve from demolition

(This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo– a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War II. It is...

Santa Barbara’s Japantown lost, but community perseveres

By Aviraj Gokool (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo- a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after World War...

Lost Monterey Japantown and The Democratic Way of Life for All

By Raymond Douglas Chong (This is part of our ongoing series, Lost Kinjo- a look at the more than 40 Japanese communities that disappeared after...

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