Japantown's 37th Annual Nikkei Matsuri Today, 9:30am-4pm

Japantown is considered one of San Jose's hippest neighborhoods, and today they are going to be extra hip with a massive event. The Nikkei Maturi is a festival that celebrates the community's appreciation for Japanese-American culture and heritage. The event was started in 1976 and includes variety of performances (marial arts, dance, music), cultural displays, a Japanese food court, and Japanese arts & crafts fair. Expect a solid day of Japanese culture immersion! The core of the event is at 5th and Jackson, but I'm sure all of Japantown will be partying today.

Free Admission to History Park Today + Yard Sale From 10am-2pm

History San José to Host Yard Sale in the Park

Free Admission to History Park

Sunday, April 27, 10 AM to 2 PM

 

San Jose, CA – April 23, 2014 --- Springtime is always yard sale season. History San José will host a Spring Yard Sale in the Park Sunday, April 27 from 10 AM to 2 PM.

Admission to History Park is free for the Yard Sale.

 

The Yard Sale in the Park at History Park, in Kelley Park, will feature individual booths of used lamps, grandma’s china, toys, and a lot of other people’s wares, all positioned throughout the park.

 

Even History San José’s Collection Center is getting in on the action. There will be an HSJ book booth, offering duplicate, unuseable, or deaccessioned books for sale. There is a fairly large collection of books on U. S. Naval history and seafaring.

 

There are also several boxes of player piano rolls, and wax cylinders, mainly Edison Company, for player pianos.

 

Food will be available for purchase, and O’Briens Café in the Pacific Hotel will feature San Jose own’s Treat ice cream. Live music by Fiddle Road and other food vendors will be a part of the Yard Sale event.

 

“The Yard Sale in the Park is better than a garage sale, a block sale, or sitting in your own driveway, added Alida Bray, President and CEO of HSJ. “It’s fun!”

 

For more information call 408 287-2290 or visit www.historysanjose.org

History Park is located at 1650 Senter Road, between Phelan and Keyes at the south end of Kelley Park in San José, CA  95112.  For GPS tracking, History Park is at 635 Phelan Road in San José, CA  95112.

 

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About History San José: 

History San José is a non-profit organization that collects, preserves and celebrates the stories of diversity and innovation in San José and the Santa Clara Valley. HSJ manages one of the largest and most comprehensive regional history collections in the State of California, from 1784 Spanish governmental records to twenty-first century Silicon Valley technology. 

History San José     1650 Senter Road     San José, CA  95112      408.287.2290

 

Website:  historysanjose.org

Facebook: /historysanjose

Twitter: @historysanjose

Blog: historysanjose.blogspot.com/

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the #11 Top City for Millennials to Live, Work, and Play

Niche Data has ranked the top 25 cities for millennials to reside based on a variety of factors such as crime rates, college graduate surveys, rent costs, and median income. As expected, both New York City and San Francisco ranked well with the #1 and #5 spots respectively. However, San Jose which is often perceived as a place to "graduate to" after you have a family also fared well in 11th place.

A big myth is also expelled, which is the percentage of young people in each of these regions (the assumption is that San Jose has fewer). Both San Jose and San Francisco have 15% of their population between ages 25-35, while New York is slightly less at 14%. Also while San Jose and New York have "low" crime rates, San Francisco is ranked as "average." Check out the source link for the full list of cities!

Source: Huff Post Collect, Hat tip to our friend Dan De La O

Fahrenheit 9 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow Fahrenheit is celebrating nine years of being a part of the Downtown San Jose community. Their award winning cuisine features all organic and locally sourced meats, seafood, and veggies. To celebrate their anniversary they are offering complimentary hor d'oeuvres and champagne from 7pm to 10pm. Late night celebrations will run from 9pm to 1:30am and include 1/2 priced Craft Beers and Specialty Cocktails from 9pm to 10:30pm.

Music will be provided by various resident DJs and Yo Yolie. There will also be surprises and goodies throughout the event and entry will be free all night long.

Indian Motorcycle Opening Up Shop in San Jose

A new Indian Motorcycle dealership clocking in at 8,988 SQFT is schedule to open at 460 Meridian Avenue this summer in a space that used to host a Diddams party supply warehouse. The location will carry both new and used Indian and Victory brand bikes, parts, apparel, and will also have a service shop.

When it opens, it will be the only Indian Motorcycle franchise in San Jose and one of two in the Bay Area. The grand opening weekend is schedule for June 28-29 and they will be celebrating with food, music, prizes, and test-rides.

Source: SVBJ

Silicon Valley Restaurant Week ~ April 30 to May 7

The biannual Silicon Valley Restaurant Week is back starting one week from today! 50 restaurants will be offering 3-course fixed price meals at reasonable prices. San Jose is heavily represented with 11 Downtown restaurants and 8 others from across the city. Some of my favorites are on the list like Arcadia, The Table, Hay Market, LB Steak, and Fahrenheit. You can even get a free ride from uber to your dining establishment of choice. To see the full list of restaurants and book a table, just head over to the Silicon Valley Restaurant Week website.

April 2014 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• SPUR has generated six big ideas to help steer Downtown San Jose towards becoming a more vital and dynamic urban place:
• Welcome all kinds of uses Downtown, but hold out for jobs near regional transit (includes establishing minimum densities within a half mile of BART stations and eliminating minimum parking requirements for new developments).
• Make sure what gets built adheres to key urban design principals
• Promote a larger "Central San Jose" area with Downtown as its core
• Make it easier to get to and through Downtown without a car
• Retrofit Downtown to be more pedestrian-oriented
• Build on Downtown's strengths as the cultural and creative center of the South Bay
• KT Properties hopes to break ground this year for the largest residential high-rise project Downtown--Silvery Towers--involving two high-rises across from San Pedro Square Market and featuring 643 units.
• TONS of new Restaurants:
• Taurinus Brazilian Steakhouse is now open at 167 W. San Fernando.
• First to Market is open at 399 S. First.
• Seven Seas Sushi Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar is open at 130 E. Santa Clara St. (formerly Ninja Star).
• Da Kine Island Grill is now open at 23 N. Market St. (Hula dancing and reggae bands on Saturday, old-fashioned luaus on Sundays).
• Nick the Greek is open at 143 W. Santa Clara St.
• Cafe Eden is serving Mediterranean food at 2 N. First St.
• La Victoria is opening their 5th location this summer at the former Tico's Tacos site at 291 N. Fourth and Julian. This will be their 3rd Downtown location.
• ISO: Beers is now offering a huge selection of craft beers at 75 E. Santa Clara.
• Paper Plane at 72 S. First St. offers a craft cocktail bare experience and shareable food (same owners as Original Gravity)
• Fireworks are Back this Fourth of July!!! The rotary club is is celebrating its 100th anniversary and has agreed to donate $20,000 to bringing back the fireworks show. The last fireworks show we had Downtown was in 2009 (and these would attract as many as 100,000 people).
• Light Rail is now 25 years old.
• SoFA projects are well underway which will include:
• Illuminating SoFA way-finders to connect the district with the Convention Center
• Construction of a permanent shade structure for the new plaza at Gore Park
• A series of "pop-up tiendas" to support creative artists selling their work during events in SoFA.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Help Launch Strike Brewing Company's Taproom

Strike Brewing Company's own production brewery is scheduled to open shortly, hopefully this June, at 2099 S. 10th St., but to make sure that their taproom -- where people can actually have a place to visit, taste, and hang out -- opens around the same time, they're calling on the community for assistance.

Strike has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to help fund the taproom. The campaign is more than half funded, but there needs to be more backers as the campaign closes this Saturday, April 26.

Visit the Kickstarter page to read more about Strike and the taproom story. As both a San Jose enthusiast and South Bay beer fan, I'm excited that Strike chose to build their brewery in San Jose. It'll be great if we could help them get to the $20,000 mark and play a part in building their taproom.

I've written a bit more about the Strike campaign on Examiner.com.

Prost! Gun bae! Cheers!

~Andy

Strike Brewing's Jenny Lewis (c) and Drew Ehrlich (r) joined by Santa Clara Valley Brewing's Steve Donohue (l), Credits: Andy Lee