t’s horrible how many people go hungry on a daily basis. During the Great Depression (1929 to the mid-1930s), feeding people was an immense challenge due to the rampant poverty affecting most Americans. In this brief video, the Filipino Americans, who grew up in San Jose Japantown, talk about what they ate during the Great […]

What is Hidden Histories of San Jose Japantown? It’s an exciting Augmented Reality (AR) art project that will installed in San Jose Japantown in the early part of 2021 (if the Shelter-In-Place has been lifted). The project is also to inform the public about the rich culture and history of an important community whose origins […]

Robert Ragsac, writer, historian, and lecturer, talks about growing up in Pinoytown in the 1930s and 1940s. JAMsj is presenting Hidden Histories, an exciting Augmented Reality art project in San Jose Japantown. Robert is a member of the Advisory Panel for Hidden Histories. This video was originally uploaded in March, 2020.

Ever wonder why the word “Shanghai” is prominently displayed on one of the larger buildings in San Jose Japantown? Seventy years ago, the Shanghai Restaurant occupied the top floor of the building. It was owned by William “Bill” Dair, one of the leaders of the Chinese community from the 1940s to 1960s. Besides old-timers like […]

How important is it to become a U.S. citizen? The right to live and work in this country? The right to vote? Back in the post-World War II era, Filipino immigrants, mostly veterans, were given the opportunity to become citizens. The Japanese would not have that opportunity until 1953. Leo Escalante Jr. (whose father operated […]

Before the Japanese. Before the Filipinos. Before any other Asian community in San Jose, there were the Chinese. Did you know that more than one Chinatown existed in San Jose? The last Chinatown (also called “Heinlenville”) provided the nurturing environment that gave birth to San Jose Japantown. Join historian Connie Young Yu in this exploration […]

This video is from the Facebook Livestream of August 8, 2020 and is 1 hour 22 minutes long. By the early 1930s San Jose’s Heinlenville Chinatown declined due to the Great Depression and other factors. The Filipino immigrants followed the Chinese businesses that moved into North Sixth Street. Enterprising Filipinos established shops and took up […]