BayAnime.com

Festival: Saturday and Sunday, April 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 2009
Queen Program: Saturday, April 11, 2009
Grand Parade: Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival will be celebrating its 42nd year, and one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions.

Official Website: nccbf.org

Tokyo Television Broadcasting Corporation (TTV) is a Japanese media company in the SF Bay Area providing Japanese programs since 1976. Their programming includes daily morning and evening news (FCI News and NHK News 7), drama, music, quiz, and cooking shows, and seasonal special programs. They broadcast on KTSF Channel 26.

View TTV’s programming schedule on their website at: www.ttvusa.com

Art gallery and shop selling clothing, toys, books, and comics (including manga).

618 Shrader St.
San Francisco CA 94117
Mon-Fri 11:30-8, Sat. 11-8, Sun 12-7
(415) 876.4773

Official Website: www.gr-sf.com

The annual Cherry Blossom Festival and Grand Parade in San Francisco’s Japantown!

Official Website: nccbf.org

It looks like Japantown will be getting a great boost soon… San Francisco-based Viz Pictures (an affiliate of Viz Media) is in the process of constructing the J-POP Center in San Francisco’s Japantown. The J-POP Center will be a commercial building housing a branch of Kinokuniya Book Store, a cafe, several trendy Japanese fashion boutiques, and the 150-seat movie theater Viz Cinema. Viz Cinema will focus on Japanese film, including first-run movies directly from Tokyo, anime films, monthly directors’ series, and more.

According to a news post on the Viz Pictures official website, the J-POP Center (and presumably Viz Cinema) is scheduled to open in 2009.

The J-POP Center website: www.jpopcenter.com
Viz Cinema website: www.vizcinema.com

(Details from: SF360)

Best Western Hotel Tomo, newly renovated and inspired by Japanese pop culture. From the wall of televisions in our lobby to anime murals and glow-in-the-dark desk blotters in each guest room, this is a San Francisco experience like no other.

Located in the heart of San Francisco Japantown!

For more information visit: www.jdvhotels.com/tomo?cid=GL_TOM

The highlight destination for many anime and manga fans especially those visiting the city, Kinokuniya Book Store is the best place to find Japanese books and magazines. They also sell a selection of movies, music, clothing, trinkets, toys, and anime goods (including calendars).

The Japantown store was recently remodeled with the addition of a brand new downstairs shop dedicated to manga in both English and Japanese.

There are two branches in the Bay, one located in San Francisco Japantown and the other in San Jose (Kinokuniya is a large chain bookstore with locations all over Japan, but there are only six branches in the entire United States).

San Francisco

Address: 1581 Webster St., San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: 415-567-7625
Fax: 415-567-4109
E-mail: [email protected]

San Jose

Address: 685 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129
Phone: 408-252-1300
Fax: 408-252-2687
E-mail: [email protected]

For more information or to order books online visit: www.kinokuniya.com

Located approximately one mile west of Union Square in San Francisco’s Western Addition, San Francisco Japantown (also known as Nihonmachi, the Japan Center, and Little Osaka) is hands down the best hang-out spot and tourist attraction for anime and manga fans in the city. It is home to an impressive array of Japanese-themed shops including those that sell or rent anime, manga, and Japanese music (including Kinokuniya Book Store), as well as a number of Japanese restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries, and supermarkets.

For more details including a list of all businesses, visit the official San Francisco Japantown website: www.sfjapantown.org

Local channel 26 KTSF provides Japanese television programming to the Bay Area.
TTV covers news every weekday in the morning and evening, and airs Japanese shows on Sundays from 8:30pm until midnight. Fuji TV broadcasts their Japanese programming on Saturday evenings also from 8:30pm until midnight.

Coverage areas include San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Marin County, Napa Valley, Richmond, San Mateo, San Jose, Stockton, and some parts of Sacramento.

For more information visit: www.ktsf.com/en/index.html

JTB is a Japanese travel agency with local branches in San Francisco and San Jose. Check out their website for special fares for travel to Japan!

West Coast Special Deals: www.jtbusa.com/en/sp/s-sfo.asp

JTB USA is also the only designated travel agency in the US selling reservation tickets (admission vouchers) to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are good for designated dates only. JTB sells tickets for the same yen prices as in Japan plus a handling fee.

Ghibli Museum ticket information: www.jtbusa.com/en/other/o-ghibli.asp

San Francisco Office

Phone: 800-882-3884 / 415-986-4764
Fax: 415-986-3989
Address: 685 Market St. Suite 200, San Francisco CA 94105
Hours: 9:00am-5:30pm (Mon – Fri)

San Jose Office

Phone: 800-827-6809 / 408-727-6800
Fax: 408-727-6886
Address: 2001 Gateway Place, Suite 135E, San Jose, CA 95110
Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm (Mon – Fri)