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While New York City doesn’t technically have one big “Japantown,” you’ll find plenty of Japanese culture and cuisine here. More than 30,000 Japanese nationals live in the five boroughs, so you’ll find the beauty of Japanese culture spread all throughout the city. Here are some of the best spots.  

Little Tokyo

Located in the East Village, what has become known as New York City’s “Little Tokyo” can be found between St. Mark's Place and 10th Street. Here you’ll find some great sushi, ramen, and yakitori restaurants, plus specialty food stores, teahouses, karaoke bars, Japanese gift shops, and hair salons.

However, you’ll also find mini “Japantowns” in other parts of the city. For example, on East 41st Street between 5th Avenue & Madison Avenue you’ll find Zaiya Cafe, Sunrise Market, and Yagura Grocery.

Japan Society

As the leading U.S. organization committed to deepening mutual understanding between the United States and Japan, Japan Society is now in its second century. The Society serves audiences across the United States and abroad through innovative programs in arts and culture, public policy, business, language and education.  Here, you can experience sophisticated, topical and accessible Japanese art and culture including classical and cutting-edge contemporary performing arts, film premieres and retrospectives, workshops and demonstrations, tastings, family activities, language classes, and a range of high-profile talks and expert panels that present open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.

Kinokuniya Bookstore

Located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas, Kinokuniya Bookstore offers a wide variety of books, magazines, and stationery from Japan. This includes Manga, graphic novels, art and design books, cookbooks, travel books, children's books, and more, both in English and Japanese.

Japanese Art and Culture

On top of the established Japanese businesses in New York City, there’s a lot of Japanese art exhibitions, entertainment, and fashion happening all the time. So much, in fact, that there are entire websites dedicated to keeping up with the latest Japanese happenings in NYC. Japan Culture NYC is a great resource for keeping up with Japanese culture in the city.

Best Japanese Restaurants

Of course, no post about Japanese culture in NYC would be complete without some restaurant recommendations. Well, we’re located on the Upper West Side, so we thought we’d let you know about some of our favorite Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood; Sushi Yasaka — a favorite for many, with great prices, a memorable atmosphere, and delicious food; Kouzan — fresh and modern with a tranquil vibe, offering great selections of sushi, sashimi, traditional dishes; and Haru Sushi  — traditional Japanese dining, upscale, with great ambiance.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

One of the natural beauties of Japan is, of course, the cherry blossom. And one of the best places to see cherry blossoms in New York City is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. There are also cherry blossoms in Central Park, which would make a great addition to any walk you take on the Upper West Side.

Here at Hotel Beacon, we’d love to be your home base for any NYC adventure — check out our latest special offers. And if you need meeting space for 10 to 150 people, we can help.