Rebekah

Inside the sweet shop
Kintetsu Mall, Japantown
Monday morning

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San Francisco astonishes me.  Diversity, mild weather, fresh clean air, good eats, fantastic farmers markets, and fabulous hikes are all part of our fabulous norm.  How incredible is that!

Some of you can probably tell from looking at me that I’m hapa, half Japanese to be more specific.  There’s a notable number of hapas in the Bay Area, which I love.  There are only a few places in the US where you can say that.  The east coast suburb where I grew up had very little diversity so I feel really fortunate that I was able to travel to Japan about every other year growing up to visit family and friends.   Those trips had a big impact on my life and opened my eyes so much.

Going to Japan was my childhood equivalent of going to Disneyland.  It was a dream being able to eat such amazing food, ride on super fast trains, watch so many fun TV programs, shop at the biggest and best department stores, experience the ordered chaos of Tokyo rush hour, all while being immersed in a fascinating language and culture.

So amongst all of the amazing perks of living in San Francisco, Japantown is one of the local gems that I treasure the most.  Having Japanese groceries, cosmetics, books, stationery, kitchenware, and DVDs all in my backyard is priceless to me.

Once I moved to SF and started working full time, the luxury of 3-month summer breaks gone, my trips to Japan stopped.  So I feel really lucky to have J-town as an easy substitute for the real thing.  Even though browsing through the shops is only a tiny glimpse of what being in Japan is really like, it brings back so many great memories and is just so much fun!

Someday I hope to make it back to Japan for a nice vacation but until then J-town is my perfect escape.

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You can see a slideshow of Rebekah’s photo shoot here.

Rebekah’s website is www.stepintocolor.com