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Answerman - Is California The Otaku Promised Land?


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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13541
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:00 pm Reply with quote
California is also important to Asian-Americans and Asians in America*. Why? Sessue Hayakawa (6/10/1889-11/23/73) was married to Tsuru Aoki (9/9/1892-10/18/61) for 48 years. These 2 are among the earliest Asian stars in the American silent film era.

*the former means those that are citizens (legal definition) and the latter are the those that are not citizens.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:03 pm Reply with quote
While I might consider visiting California for otaku goods and Japanese food and culture, living there is probably out of reach, judging that moving only about a three hours drive took most of my albeit modest savings. I've bought most stuff online anyways, mainly for price but also a dearth of shops that sold such things in the Philadelphia suburbs, as far as I could tell, though I never really felt the need to look. I've had more luck in Northern Virginia, where I'm at now, but not that much more really. One advantage that brick and mortar shops have over online stores is they can serve as meeting places for fans, especially in places without a con near enough. For purchases where you want some discretion, online is better of course.

As rent/housing prices, well that's a problem that can be solved by more relaxed zoning laws to allow more multifamily structures in less urban areas and more and taller apartment buildings in urban areas. Just compare the housing and rent prices in places like Texas, Atlanta, and even Washington (State not D.C.) and Oregon. But people like things the way they are, and high housing prices in places like California (especially San Francisco) and New York are, well, the price for that preference. Washington, Oregon and the province of Ontario get around that by making zoning decisions at the state level (province level for Ontario but same same). Not saying it's wrong to like your neighborhood the way it is, just that that is not without costs.
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Fenrin



Joined: 19 Dec 2015
Posts: 693
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:08 pm Reply with quote
kotomikun wrote:
Other than housing prices, the worst thing about living in California is the traffic.
Fixed
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1823
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:11 pm Reply with quote
Stuart Smith wrote:
But in the age of the internet I just import stuff from Mandarake.


I physically visit Mandarake and Lashinbang in Tokyo for music of anime titles - it is great to be able to get a blu-ray set that was close to 10,000円 new for 2,000-2,500円 in near-perfect condition secondhand and not have to pay shipping / proxy services which I've had to use for some items from Amazon Japan resellers.

It is good to support the local anime stores and Japanese eateries (which I do) but it's still not the same as a physical visit to Japan.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:13 pm Reply with quote
While Mr. Sevakis lives in LA, I'd like to give a shout-out to Japanese/Asian American goods presence in Kearny Mesa area San Diego. Not otaku heaven, but we have a Kula revolving sushi bar and other markets. Also a good representation in Irvine, Ca. If you have a 99 Ranch, Marukai Market, Daiso or similar in reach, feel fortunate. We have them here...
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Fenrin



Joined: 19 Dec 2015
Posts: 693
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:30 pm Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:
Unfortunately my favorite place to get okonomiyaki, Haru Ulala, closed a few months ago, so I'm on the hunt for a new place. I hear Gottsui in Little Osaka does a good okonomiyaki, but I haven't tried them yet.

But yes, the hot spot for Japanese food is indeed the Little Osaka section of Sawtelle in West LA. Tsujita is possibly the best ramen in all of North America (and they're opening a 2nd location a mile from me in Glendale!! SQUEE!!!), and there are several Japanese-style crepe places there.

Woo thanks for the tips! I don't have the luxury of trying out different places since I'm rarely in the area, and it would be nice to be pleased with the food on my first try.
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midnighteve



Joined: 04 Jun 2008
Posts: 114
Location: Chula Vista
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:39 pm Reply with quote
I dunno if anyone has mentioned San Diego yet (I'll admit I skimmed a bit...) but I have to say it's pretty nice down here Smile We don't have the nightmare traffic that LA has to deal with (it can get bad, but it's definitely not THAT bad) and it's only a 2 hour drive to LA if you wanna brave it. Which I do. I love visiting Little Tokyo up there...Shinsengumi ramen is to die for <3

But yeah, San Diego has it's own little mini Asian district, complete with a Mitsuwa, Nijiya Market and a Book Off...as well as many different sort of restaurants. There also used to be a large population of Japanese immigrants in Chula Vista way back when, so there are still a few authentic restaurants there too where the retirement home, Kiku gardens, still resides. The city suits my (Japanese) grandma's needs just fine and there's enough stuff here where I can get her the occasion futomaki or komochi konbu for her rice needs, and I'm quite happy here myself!
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reanimator





PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:29 pm Reply with quote
People say that you can buy every anime merchandise through online and I don't diasgree with their view, but nothing beats actually seeing and touching actual merchanidse.

I live in 1.5 mile from SF Japantown and I go to kinokuniya bookstore with my bicycle just about every week. (I feel like Onodera from Yowamushi Pedal) Since I consider myself as hardcore otaku and don't care much about having big space to live, so I don't buy stuffs like toys that takes up too much space.

What's good about Kinokuniya bookstore SF is that you can thumb through Japanese anime/manga art books and they carry certain studio exclusive art books on hand. I love their selection of various Japanese reference books focused on teaching people how to draw manga/illustration and that selection alone makes whatever Christopher Hart and others produced pales in comparison (None of those Japanese books are traslated in English yet). Also they put 25%~50% off sale on older anime merchandises regularly so that they could make room for new stuffs. People might grumble about Kinokuniya bookstore not carrying older stuffs anymore, but that's the retail business in general.

I don't bother to check out other stores like Japan Videos because they sell pirated merchandises which aren't worth my money. Also I don't like tacky merchandises like "Looking for Japanese girlfriend" T-shirts and anime messenger bags. (I just don't like stuffs that scream "I'm an Anime/Manga fan" or "I'm a Japanophile")

New People building across the street is catered to toward Japanese pop culture than just anime and manga alone. Some of its stores are pop up store that meant to run for few months. Top floor serves as a gallery which hosted everything from anime artworks to contemporary Japanese pop arts. Basement floor is New People Cinema which shows Japanese films and animation mostly.

Kinokuniiya bookstore in San Jose is much smaller and has even smaller art book section. Their English manga section is okay, but art book section is not good at all as their shelf space is severely limited. (Probably because artists are centered around in SF and tech geeks are centered in San Jose, I guess?)

Nikaku Animart is still in business in San Jose thanks to their side business. They sell pretty decent stock of new anime art books, but they still carry quite amount of older anime merchandises which is an ideal place for older fans who still want to buy Saint Seiya or Ranma 1/2.

San Francisco has become very expensive area to live thanks to tech indutstry trying to establish a base in the city. I have married friends who make six figures in tech job are now planning to move away from SF Bay Area due to skyrocketed housing cost. As an otaku who settled in the city, it's hard to leave the place and I'm lucky that I moved into San Francisco ten years ago.

I still want to live Japan if condition is acceptable though...
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:50 pm Reply with quote
reanimator wrote:

San Francisco has become very expensive area to live thanks to tech industry trying to establish a base in the city. I have married friends who make six figures in tech job are now planning to move away from SF Bay Area due to skyrocketed housing cost. As an otaku who settled in the city, it's hard to leave the place and I'm lucky that I moved into San Francisco ten years ago.


This is true but this is not the whole truth. Certainly the influx of tech companies has increased housing prices, but an increase in housing prices would normally mean more houses and apartments being built. But with zoning laws being the way they are, the supply of housing is limited. Economics tells you that when demand increases more than supply, the price rises, and, well, that is exactly what happened. New York has the same issues with affordability for much the same reason, so it's not like the problem/cause is unique to San Francisco.
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AnimeLordLuis



Joined: 27 Jan 2015
Posts: 1626
Location: The Borderlands of Pandora
PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:51 pm Reply with quote
Well moving to California is completely out of the question for me hell it would be cheaper just to visit Japan once a year for about a week and besides other than Anime shops I have everything right here even a few amusement parks within driving distance not to mention street racing. Wink
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Desa



Joined: 07 Mar 2015
Posts: 285
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:16 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Well, the IDEAL place to acquire anime, manga and merchandise would be Japan. But you knew that.


Two words: Reverse importation.

I mean, they want HOW much for 2 episodes on Blu-ray?! Haha fat chance.
Sure you can't beat the source for selection, but things aren't always so ideal across the pond.
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reanimator





PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:21 am Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:
reanimator wrote:

San Francisco has become very expensive area to live thanks to tech industry trying to establish a base in the city. I have married friends who make six figures in tech job are now planning to move away from SF Bay Area due to skyrocketed housing cost. As an otaku who settled in the city, it's hard to leave the place and I'm lucky that I moved into San Francisco ten years ago.


This is true but this is not the whole truth. Certainly the influx of tech companies has increased housing prices, but an increase in housing prices would normally mean more houses and apartments being built. But with zoning laws being the way they are, the supply of housing is limited. Economics tells you that when demand increases more than supply, the price rises, and, well, that is exactly what happened. New York has the same issues with affordability for much the same reason, so it's not like the problem/cause is unique to San Francisco.


Thanks, I didn't consider zoning laws in the city. Zoning laws in the SF is really a mess.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:33 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
... Yoshinoya is the biggest teriyaki bowl chain in the world, and they've long had a stronghold in southern California... I've only seen one Mitsuwa that didn't have a Daiso nearby (Costa Mesa)..
Yeah, San Diego doesn't have a Yoshinoya but there is a great place in the Marukai Market that serves gyudon (same dish but better) and there is even a Marion crepe' place where I get strawberry/choco creme to feed my inner Japanese Schoolgirl (oiishi!!). Tokyo Central is here too. Come on down!! I really miss Yoshinoya, I don't care what anybody says, but there is one in Tustin and there is also a Gyu-Kaku there that was mentioned earlier.
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the green death



Joined: 28 Jul 2015
Posts: 128
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:07 am Reply with quote
As an Orange County vegetarian otaku, my favorite Japanes food places are Vegilocious in Huntington Beach and Shojin in Little Tokyo (vegan sushi and my favorite restaurant anywhere). In OC we have tons of Book Off's, a Kinokuniya (where I've spent far too much cash), a few Mitsuwa's, Simply Kids in Santa Ana (great selection in a small space), a Gundam store that's half cellphone store/half amazing Gundam shop, Tokyo Central, which is a great Japanese grocery with a healthy otaku section and tons and tons of restaurants.

For anyone who is interested, the best Book Off for native Japanese materials that I've found is easily the Gardena location (LA County). Really great selection. Costa Mesa is decent; all the others I've seen have little native language stuff.
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SquadmemberRitsu



Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 1391
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:27 am Reply with quote
I've always thought about where I would want to move to if I could pick anywhere in the world to be. And as much as I love Japan, I think LA is probably number one on my list.

I mean sure Japan is the literal undisputed world capital of anime crap but there's a small problem with living there. I don't speak the language. Being a foreigner in Japan means the burden of learning a foreign language in order to communicate with the locals lies on me. On the other hand, even though they study it in school, the average Japanese person living in Japan is not obligated to learn the language.

Being in LA means it's the other way around. They're probably gonna be obligated to know at least some of the language whereas I don't really have any obligation to learn Japanese. Therefore it's gonna be easier for me to communicate with the staff at these shops since I don't have to learn an entirely new language to do so.

Granted where I live is way closer to Japan than the US but I'm way more familiar with US customs than I am with Japanese. Plus logically speaking I'd need a job to be able to live overseas and my preferred career path would sooner lead me to LA than it would to Japan.
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