About Tacoma Japantown
A digital exhibit of place-based stories about historic Japantown in Tacoma, WA
Tacoma Japantown is a digital exhibit of place-based stories about Tacoma’s historic Japantown from 1880-1950. The exhibit is housed through the Digital Scholarship section at the UW Tacoma Library. It includes historical overviews, historic photographs, map archives, and interactive maps featuring different aspects of Tacoma’s Japantown, and resources for students, researchers, residents, and Tacoma Japanese American descendants.
Our primary goals are:
1) to raise awareness of Tacoma’s historic Japantown;
2) to bring the scholarship and research by Lisa Hoffman Mary Hanneman, Michael Sullivan, and Tamiko Nimura (and others) on Tacoma’s Japantown to a larger public audience than the one already generated by the scholarly monograph Becoming Nisei;
3) to connect descendants of Tacoma Japanese Americans who are performing genealogy work with existing resources for their research.
Photo credit: Woods and Henry Auto Garage, 930 Market Street, ca.1921. (L-R) Henry “Hank” Matsumoto, Louie Matsumoto, Mr. Woods. (Used with permission from descendant Kim LeRoy.)
