Our Neighborhood Japantown

With T's move to San Mateo, we have spent a considerable amount of time shopping and dining in the nearby downtown area. It is becoming evident with each subsequent visit just how many Japanese-Americans there are in the area and how intertwined they are with the history of the city. I count more than ten Japanese restaurants within a three block area as well as two Japanese markets, a Japanese-American historical center, and a full-fledged Japanese tea garden (link here)(additional photos). By chance, we stumbled across a genuine Tokyo-style ramen house above one of the markets; the patrons were all Japanese nationals, presumably JAL flight crews on layovers at SFO. One of the markets, Takahashi, apparently dates back to 1906 (link here). Who knew San Mateo had such a thriving Japanese-American community? Will definitely have to try the homemade mochi as well as the fresh, unpasteurized tofu procured and sold at Takahashi.