San Jose’s Japantown is small but mighty — a few blocks’ stretch of small businesses that are often overlooked. But they never underdeliver.
Dating back to the early 20th century, the neighborhood has long been a hub of commerce and community for Japanese Americans. Over the years, the core of Japantown has also diversified. It’s become a notable intersection for San Jose’s richly vibrant food offerings while also incubating one of the South Bay’s best underground scenes.
Currently, there’s a tiki lounge, a hidden shop up a narrow flight of stairs that stashes hard-to-find anime DVDs, sushi bars, hot pot restaurants, a slick barbershop, a recording studio, streetwear boutiques, art galleries and more. There are young artists, veteran designers, amateur photographers and general creatives kicking it and cross-pollinating their ideas.
Among them, Cukui has been an anchoring presence since 2008. Built from the post–dot com imagination of Silicon Valley millennials, the clothing shop has survived gentrification for nearly two decades and continues to amplify Shark City’s unique offerings with streetwear rooted in Latinx, Asian and Polynesian cultures and tattoo aesthetics.
This is the legendary OG shop where Alex Knowbody — a Mexican American documentarian from East Side San Jose — got his jumpstart as an intern.
