Subject Guide: Chicago’s Japanese American Neighborhoods

For anyone curious about Chicago’s former Japanese American neighborhoods on the north and south sides of the city, the following resources (all free, all online) are great ways to start expanding your knowledge.  For a deeper dive, see the bibliography included in the “Resettlement in Chicago” article in the Densho Encyclopedia (linked below).  For the richest collections of primary source materials documenting this history, look to the JASC Legacy Center’s archives and the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society.  Need help with your research?  Contact the Legacy Center Director by email or phone (773-275-0097, x222) for assistance.

What happened to Chicago’s Japanese neighborhood?
https://interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/chicago-japanese-neighborhood/
Kat Nagasawa, Curious City, WBEZ
This is an episode of the Curious City series and an accompanying interactive digital experience produced by Kat Nagasawa of Chicago’s NPR-affiliate station WBEZ.

Preserving the memory of Lakeview’s Japanese community
https://www.wbez.org/stories/preserving-the-memory-of-lakeviews-japanese-community/fb670469-9725-4f47-8de4-d978c1771ef4
Afternoon Shift, WBEZ
On this episode of WBEZ’s Afternoon Shift, local writers Erik Matsunaga and Fred Sasaki speak about their families’ experiences, share their knowledge of Chicago’s Japanese American neighborhoods, and discuss what inspired them to launch the Nikkei Chicago website.

Japanese Americans on Chicago’s South Side
Japanese Americans on Chicago’s Near North Side
30 Years of Lakeview: Chicago’s Japanese American Community
Erik Matsunaga, Discover Nikkei

These three series by Discover Nikkei contributor Erik Matsunaga provide historical context, images, quotes from former residents, and maps that plot the businesses, food and drink establishments, religious organizations, medical services, and residential properties that once existed in Chicago’s Japanese American neighborhoods on the north and south sides of the city.

•      Japanese Americans on Chicago’s South Side – Oakland/Kenwood, 1940s-1950s
  Part 1: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2015/12/1/oakland-kenwood-1/
  Part 2: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2015/12/2/oakland-kenwood-2/
  Part 3: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2015/12/3/oakland-kenwood-3/
•      Japanese Americans on Chicago’s Near North Side, 1940s-1960s
  Part 1: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2020/1/20/clark-and-division-1/
  Part 2: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2020/1/27/clark-and-division-2/
  Part 3: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2020/2/3/clark-and-division-3/
•      30 Years of Lakeview: Chicago’s Japanese American Community, 1960s-1990s
  Part 1: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2014/12/23/lakeview-1/
  Part 2: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2014/12/24/lakeview-2/

Windy City Nikkei
Erik Matsunaga
Another project of writer and local historian Erik Matsunaga, Windy City Nikkei provides “bite-sized glimpses of Japanese American Chicago” on both Instagram and Facebook.  See this piece on Discover Nikkei to read about Erik’s creation process for the Windy City Nikkei content.

• Windy City Nikkei on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windycitynikkei/?hl=en
• Windy City Nikkei on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/windycitynikkei/

Resettlement in Chicago
https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Resettlement_in_Chicago/
Ellen D. Wu, Indiana University/Densho Encyclopedia
This entry in the Densho Encyclopedia provides an excellent historical overview of the postwar resettlement of Japanese Americans in the Chicago area.  It includes a bibliography of additional resources well worth investigating.