A Forgotten Community

In the early 1900s, Japanese immigrants started settling into a gritty, industrial corner of NW Portland, Oregon streets around the train station. Local laws and racist sentiments of the time made it difficult to find housing anywhere else. Within a few years, those eight or so blocks were filling up with Japanese-owned shops, restaurants, hotels and services. It became known as Japantown—Nihonmachi, in Japanese—a hub for the growing population to find work and community as they navigated an unfamiliar new culture. Then, Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. Soon after, Executive Order 9066 authorized the imprisonment of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast in American concentration camps, including citizens born in the US. Nihonmachi disappeared almost overnight and was never revived.

This map tells the stories of people and businesses that helped build Nihonmachi, some of which still exist today. But the stories gathered here represent only a snapshot of the many who lived and ran businesses in Nihonmachi. Scroll down to begin your journey through Portland’s lost Nihonmachi, use the slider on the map to see past and present views of these streets and click on an image to view full screen and read related captions.

More than just people living in the same place or being from the same country, these buildings and businesses helped strengthen connections and create a sense of fellowship.

As these people’s stories show, the incarceration of Japanese people during WWII was not the start, nor was it the end of their struggles.

Those who overcame obstacles and built something larger than themself, creating an impact that stands the test of time and improved the lives of generations to come.

Today, the cherry trees marking the Japanese American Historical Plaza are one of the few visible remnants of the Japanese presence in this NW Portland neighborhood. Just as it was no accident that the growing immigrant community was pushed into this less desirable, industrial corner of downtown, once they built it into a thriving neighborhood, their displacement was also by intention. The rock sculptures of the Japanese American Historical Plaza represent the way Executive Order 9066 broke up the Japanese American community, dividing the community and the momentum they had in establishing themselves in their new home. By preserving the history of these places, buildings and people, we preserve an important part of the Japanese American story and American history in general. It teaches present and future generations what has been endured and what is possible when you refuse to give up.

Continue your journey learning about Japanese history in Oregon at the  Japanese American Museum of Oregon .

This project has been funded by National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Telling the Full History Preservation Fund, with support from National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Trust or the National Endowment for the Humanities.