Recipes - IBUKI Magazine

pillars of the Japanese American community. But the area lacks retail.For the casual traveler, the epicenter of Japantown is to the west of I-5 onthe corner of 6th Ave. S and Main Street. Here you’ll find the PanamaHotel & Cafe and its new neighbor, the Cullom Gallery, featuring modernand traditional Japanese prints, the award-winning Maneki sushirestaurant and Momo, fast becoming one of the city’s most interestingboutiques. Around the corner is Kobo at Higo, a variety store and gallerythat honors the work of local craftspeople, and Kaname restaurant,a family-friendly gathering spot. This block bubbles with pride and life.Art walks, events and Wing Luke walking tours have given this neighborhoodmore vibrancy than it has had in years. Fans of Jamie Ford’shit novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which is partially setin the Panama, flock here to see where the bittersweet romance betweena girl from Japantown and a Chinese American boy began. JanJohnson, owner of the Panama, reports that more than 150 book clubshave visited the hotel this year. A guest book for visitors who come tothe Panama because of the book “is filled with hundreds of names,”says Ford, the novelist. “There’s definitely been a surge of interest” inJapantown, he adds.Walk down 6th toward Uwajimaya supermarket and you’ll pass otherpieces of the hard-to-define Japantown -- Pink Gorilla, Fort St. George,Maekawa Bar and Kinokuniya Bookstore. The vision and perseveranceof business owners here is starting to pay off. Japantown is slowly butsurely being redefined.