Hop on Muni to get to Japantown!
San Francisco’s Japantown is thriving post-pandemic. COVID-19 scrambled most cities’ economies and the way residents and visitors spend money. But sales tax data show some neighborhoods, including Japantown, have made quite a comeback.
Japantown’s sales tax revenue for the last quarter of 2023 was 33% higher than in the same quarter of 2019. By comparison, citywide sales tax revenues were down 15% in the same quarter. This is according to the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
What’s behind Japantown’s success
Japantown Merchants Association President Richard Hashimoto believes the neighborhood’s mix of retail and restaurants is what makes it so attractive. The area is the oldest Japanese neighborhood in the country. And it keeps up with the times.
“The types of shops and restaurants we have here are geared toward the current fads and trends,” he said. “I’d say about 70% of visitors are young, with teenagers being about 40% of that,” he added. “It’s amazing how much money they’re spending!”
Transit plays a role in the neighborhood’s resurgence, Hashimoto noted. The 38 Geary in particular has contributed to the increase in foot traffic, Hashimoto said. “I’ve noticed a lot of people disembarking in Japantown.”
The Geary Rapid Project has reduced bus travel times to Japantown and along the corridor.
The story in numbers
There is data to back up what Hashimoto described. The Geary Rapid Project added new bus lanes with transit signal priority. That means green lights are held for transit to reduce unnecessary delays. The project also added crosswalks and traffic calming along three miles of Geary Boulevard.
The result is that travel times on the 38 Geary are 18% shorter than they were before the project’s completion in 2021. Reliability has improved 37%, and it’s safer for people to walk across streets in the area.
And our ridership statistics show marked improvements for the 38 Geary and other bus lines in the area.
- Weekend ridership on the 38 Geary is 73% of June 2019.
- Weekend ridership on the 38R Geary Rapid is 103% of 2019.
- Weekend ridership on the 22 Fillmore is 145% of 2019.
- Systemwide weekend ridership is 91% of 2019.
- Systemwide weekday ridership is 70% of 2019.
For the bus stops that serve Japantown, weekend boardings for the 22 Fillmore and 38R Geary Rapid are higher than weekend boardings in the months immediately before the pandemic began. Weekday boardings on the 22 Fillmore have matched weekday boardings in January and February 2020.
Visitors come for the shopping and stay for the food.
Visitors love Japantown
“I like the shops a lot,” said Lamiya, a shopper who asked us not to use her last name. “I do take the bus – the 22 or the 1, and I like to hang out here and in the Fillmore.” She used a Bay Wheels bikeshare to get to the neighborhood that afternoon.
Alora, who was wearing a duck-shaped hat she bought in Japantown, added: “I really like it here. I like the cosmetics, skin care and food.”
Whether by bike, bus, car or scooter, it’s undeniable that more people are coming to Japantown now than before the pandemic. “It’s just astounding,” Hashimoto said. “Every weekend day feels like a festival day.”