Lots of holiday events in Jtown this weekend! But before that, THIS THURS, the SFMTA is hosting an important community meeting on bike lanes in the Western Addition & Japantown.

NEWS from the Asian Art Museum: “To celebrate his spectacular first solo exhibition in San Francisco, Takashi Murakami has created a special surprise gift for you!  Guests who purchase a ticket to  ‘Murakami: Monsterized’  for Thursday, Dec. 14 are eligible to receive a free collectible trading card featuring Murakami’s signature imagery. Part of a limited production of approximately 30,000 collectible cards, these cards are being distributed at the Asian Art Museum before anywhere else in the world, and as a giveaway exclusively on this occasion. Don’t miss this chance to take home a collector’s item from Takashi Murakami, the Superflat artist whose work draws on everything from historical Japanese art to anime and manga culture! For more information, go to this link.

If you have 10 minutes, please take our Osaka Way Design Survey and share your opinion about the upgrades planned for Osaka Way/Buchanan Mall. Link to the survey is here. Available in English, Chinese, Japanese , Korean. Links below.

Design Survey (English)

デザイン調査 (日本語)

設計調查 (中文)

디자인 설문 조사 (한글)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: Reimagine Japantown Framework, details here.

The Reimagine Japantown Committee (RJC), composed of a group of Japantown community leaders, has partnered with the City to articulate a bold but realistic vision for the future of Japantown, while at the same time recognizing the critical role it has played in San Francisco for over 115 years. This vision will have a focus on the Japan Center Malls (JCM), and will engage representatives from the Japanese American, City, local business, development, cultural, historical and residential communities to ensure that Japantown thrives and successfully sustains its cultural and historic identity into the next century.

About the Reimagine Japantown Framework: The Reimagine Japantown Framework aims to produce a community vision statement for the future of the Japan Center Malls, site-specific goals, and an articulation of public benefits, derived from an analysis of community planning efforts to date, informed by financial feasibility. RFP details are available at this link.

Pre-Proposal Conference, Wed, 12/13, 10-11 am: Potential applicants are encouraged to attend a pre-proposal conference. Register here.

Photo credit: Wally Gobetz.

Watch out! These treats for a good cause are highly addictive!

Silver Bells is finally back, 10 am-4 pm THIS SAT. Do your holiday shopping with gifts from small local businesses with an Asian flair for design, materials, and treats, and you’ll be supporting the important work of Kimochi Senior Services.

Seniors interested in a delicious Christmas Day luncheon (free!) at Pa’ina Restaurant should call Kimochi Inc., to make a reservation, 415.931.2294.

The monthly Mini Art Mart will be at the Kinokuniya Mall this weekend! Check out young artists from the anime/maga world. Great gifts abound! For details on artists, vendors, visit the Mini Art Mart on Instagram and Facebook.

After hitting the Mini Art Mart, head on over to the OK Marketplace pop-up for vintage clothing, more local vendor, class arcade games and more! For details, visit OK Marketplace on Instagram and website

From We Are One: Join us for this year-end celebration of the diversity of our community in a spirit of sharing and hope for a more humane and loving future. The program will feature musical compositions as well as a sharing of the gifts and aspirations of different cultures and faith traditions in an atmosphere of unity and respect.  We also invite all of the participants of our various events throughout this year to reunite for this year-end celebration.  A Japanese style curry dinner will be served. Suggested donation is $15. Please RSVP to info@weareonesf.org. We are also seeking volunteers to help us at the registration desk. We hope that you will join us to reflect on the past year as well as look forward to 2024!

Purchase tickets here!

SHARING IS CARING. Thanks to the Japantown Community Benefit District for letting us know that Robbie Leonard and his team at the Japantown UPS store are collecting gently used coats as part of the One Warm Coat drive until 1/3/24, as well as new toys (unwrapped please) as part of the annual San Francisco Firefighters Toy Drive until 12/22. Please drop off your items at the Japantown UPS store, 1770 Post Street.