With hello kitty, kyoto geishas, and dragonball anime characters all walking virtually the same street, Japan looks to us to be about as cool as it gets. Instead of booking a flight into Narita International, visit the country’s recent incarnation in our very own accessible, approachable Japantown. Book a room (or just decamp for the day) at one of the neighborhood’s two newly renovated hotels to check out the bounty: Both feature Japanese-style amen­ities that don’t require an overnight stay.

Awash in pop-art murals, bright colors, and super-hip furniture, the manga- and anime-inspired Hotel Tomo (formerly the Miyako Inn) boasts a pair of gaming suites that have become a destination for twentysomething gamers, as well as kids’ birthday parties. The suites, which can be rented in four-hour segments or overnight, come equipped with PS3, a Wii, a six-foot-wide LCD projection screen, beanbags, funky furniture, a mini-refrigerator, and, in the overnight suite, an iPod docking station. For lovers of the traditional Japanese experience, the Hotel Kabuki (formerly the Miyako Hotel), sleek and sophisticated after a $10 million renovation, offers free Saturday classes in classic arts such as ikebana and bonsai. If you do stay overnight, activities like a tea ceremony and communal bathing at nearby Kabuki Springs & Spa are included. Day trippers can also visit the baths on their own—Kabuki has several same-sex days (bathing suits optional) and a co-ed day (suits required) each week.

A few doors down the street, Robert Redford’s new Sundance Kabuki Cinema is drawing visitors (including Japanese tourists) to the area for distinctly American entertainment. Eight theaters, a restaurant, a bar-bistro, and a stand-alone bar to explore mean you can spend the entire evening there. For a fee, viewers also select their seats in advance; if you sit in the theater with the 21-and-over balcony, you can order drinks from the adjacent bar. Just imagine Asahi in your cupholder.




Before saying sayonara to Japantown, make a stop at Mifune for some housemade ramen, soba, and udon in combination-style lunches that average less than $10 each. (The shop also sells bags of the noodles for about $4 apiece.) For a more refined meal, try the wappa-meshi at Maki. Rice and your choice of toppings, such as salmon roe and chunks of salmon or soy-glazed eel, are steamed in a pine basket. The result is a striking example of the beauty of simplicity.

Anime aficionados should check out what’s probably the city’s largest selection, in the newly renovated Kinokuniya Bookstore. Also in the neighborhood are stores selling everything from cast-iron teapots to paper lanterns that attract Nisei and Americans alike. Many inexpensive ceramic bowls and teacups decorated in Japan’s elegant and understated style are for sale, too—but don’t be disappointed by the sign of the times underneath some pieces that reads, “Made in China.”

Hotel Tomo: 1800 Sutter St., 415-921-4000, jdvhotels.com/tomo; Hotel Kabuki: 1625 Post St., 415-922-3200, jdvhotels.com/kabuki; Kabuki Springs & Spa: 1750 Geary Blvd., 415-922-6000, kabukisprings.com; Sundance Kabuki Cinema: 1881 Post St., 415-929-4650, sundancecinemas.com; Mifune: 1737 Post St., 415-922-0337, mifune.com; Maki: 1825 Post St., 415-921-5215; Kinokuniya Bookstore: 1581 Webster St. #165, 415-567-7625, kinokuniya.com