Early Japantown in San Francisco: A Walking Tour with Naomi Hirahara

The Japantown Mysteries of Naomi Hirahara may be thrilling historical fiction, but the backdrop of her stories were the real Japanese-American communities of Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Bay Area. Naomi draws upon her experience as a novelist, journalist, and historian for a walking tour of downtown San Francisco to discover historic sites and businesses of the late 18th and early 19th century Japanese immigrant community. The walking tour will start at the Mechanics' Institute and travel down Market Street, with detours around Stevenson Street, Mint Street, and Jessie Street, and loop back to MI. The tour will last about 90 minutes. 

Please keep in mind that this is a first time tour route, and an exciting work in progress! 

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes. Her follow-up to Clark and Division, Evergreen, was on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks. Her latest book is Crown City.