Walk Tacoma’s Nihonmachi (Japantown)

July 5, 2019 8:30 am
Tacoma used to have thriving a Chinatown and Japan town, both with flourishing markets and communities. A variety of historical circumstances caused them to leave, but their influence remains.This map of Seattle's Japan and China towns details a sense of their history. This community too is under continual threat of development and urban changes. Photo: Morf Morford
Tacoma used to have thriving a Chinatown and Japan town, both with flourishing markets and communities. A variety of historical circumstances caused them to leave, but their influence remains. This map of Seattle's Japan and China towns details a sense of their history. This community too is under continual threat of development and urban changes. Photo: Morf Morford

Tour Tacoma’s town that used to be

Take a guided tour of Tacoma’s historic Nihonmachi (Japantown) with writer Tamiko Nimura, and historian Michael Sullivan on the Walk Tacoma, Tacoma’s Japantown Walk. The free, one-mile walk, sponsored by BCRA, will be held on Wednesday, July 10th from noon to 1pm. It will start at the top of the UWT stairs at S. 19th and Jefferson Ave.

Tacoma used to have thriving a Chinatown and Japan town, both with flourishing markets and communities. A variety of historical circumstances caused them to leave, but their influence remains. This map of Seattle's Japan and China towns details a sense of their history. This community too is under continual threat of development and urban changes. Photo: Morf Morford
Tacoma used to have thriving a Chinatown and Japan town, both with flourishing markets and communities. A variety of historical circumstances caused them to leave, but their influence remains.
This map of Seattle’s Japan and China towns details a sense of their history. This community too is under continual threat of development and urban changes. Photo: Morf Morford

Between the 1880s and the 1940s, immigrants created a vibrant Japantown in downtown Tacoma. The neighborhood extended from S.17th (Union Station) to S. 11th, between Pacific Ave. and Market St.  It included a hotel, shops, restaurants, places of worship, and a Japanese Language School. Walk the historic neighborhood and learn about the significance of these historic downtown locations. Leaders Tamiko Nimura and Michael Sullivan have done a large amount of research on this historic neighborhood, and together they have created a free phone app of the walking tour for iPhones and for Android.

Register for the walks online or sign-in at the event. The events are free, all ages are welcome, and American Sign Language interpretation will be available.

Earn a Walk Tacoma 10-year anniversary t-shirt by walking, biking or taking transit to the event.  Find your nearest bus route on the Pierce Transit website, take the Tacoma Link, which runs every 12 minutes, bike, or walk to the event. T-shirts will be given out at the walk.

The Walk Tacoma series, sponsored by the Puyallup Watershed Initiative Active Transportation Community of Interest, is a six-event walking series held on the first Wednesday of the month, from April through August. This year celebrates Walk Tacoma’s 10-year anniversary by bringing back the favorite walks from the past 10 years. All walks in the series include activities for children provided by the Children’s Museum of Tacoma.

For more information on the full Walk Tacoma Series visit www.downtownonthego.org.

About Downtown: On the Go!

Downtown On the Go (DOTG) is the transportation advocate and resource for anyone whose daily life is downtown Tacoma. DOTG is a collaborative effort of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, City of Tacoma, Pierce Transit, and downtown businesses. DOTG helps businesses save money, position their business as an active downtown community member, improve their employees’ health and well being, and protect their local and global environment through transportation management.

– Downtown On the Go