Before their first event, I sat down with Susie Kagami, the founding executive director of KOHO, a new cocreative hub in Japantown. Large floor-to-ceiling windows needed one last wipe down, and a large blank canvas awaited a new mural in the 3,300-square-foot space. Her smile and presence were so calming, you wouldn’t know that in just seven days, the space would need to be ready to host music by Oakland native Seiji Oda, Japantown the last stop on his Gentle Tour. Kagami describes how this community space in the heart of Japantown will open its doors using an arts and culture lens to provide a safe nurturing space for needed conversations to dive into culture and identity. She wants the new generation to define KOHO’s space and hopes to prompt them by fueling their passions. KOHO’s calendar of events will feature art exhibitions, film festivals, panel discussions, music pop-ups, vendor markets, and so much more. Kagami has a delightful vision of a long table laden with delicious fare for a sit-down dinner. She anticipates seeing many generations together in conversation within the four walls of KOHO and feels honored that she and the hub can be a vessel to help forge the dialogue.
San Francisco’s Japantown is the oldest in the nation at 118 years old and the largest designated Japantown out of the three remaining, all on the West Coast. This rich history, however, is tinged with a sense of loss — in the 1940s, there were close to 40 blocks in Japantown (to its nine today) prior to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and displacement in the 1960s. Many in the community share a need and longing for understanding the cultural identity of the community, and Kagami describes how KOHO will use art and culture to provide a safe space to allow for the needed conversations about the culture and identity of Japantown..
I wanted to pick Kagami’s brain and piece together how she landed in this extraordinary position and how arts and culture seemed to be a big part of who she is. Growing up as an only child, and moving to San Francisco at the age of 7 , she jokes, “[I am] almost native.” Art was in her blood, growing up with an architect father and mother and stepfather marketing executives. She recalls both homes as designer showrooms and quips how she learned to host parties for marketing executives at a young age. Spending summers in Hawaii, home to both parents, grounded her then and now.
This work to ideate a future Japantown for our grandchildren’s grandchildren is a community effort.”
— Susie Kagami
Kagami’s journey through arts began at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and further through California state universities for interior and general design. After graduating she found herself in the corporate realm. Looking for more creative enrichment and connection to her Hawaiian roots, she began a booking agency working with the top vocalists, slack key guitar, and ukulele artists in Hawaii, touring up and down the West Coast and Japan. Parenthood brought another shift, joining the PTA at Rosa Parks Elementary Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program, which led her toward volunteering and nonprofit work with a cultural focus in the Japantown community for over 12 years and becoming the Japantown Cultural District manager on the Japantown Task Force. She speaks about the power of folks collectively coming together to create something bigger than oneself.
Kagami is excited about the effort of the leaders in her generation collectively wanting to rebuild and bring the community back together with a desire to uplift and empower the new generation of leaders. She talks about the many hands and hearts that have supported the vision leading to this creative hub: her own many hours finalizing and securing the adoption of the Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; the guidance of the branding company Plinth Agency and Kultivate Labs, a nonprofit economic development and arts organization; the countless hours put in by volunteers showing up every Saturday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. for the past three months scraping the windows, painting the walls, helping to imagine. At the June 2022 launch party, over 1,200 people came together to enjoy music, food, and art from Japanese American entrepreneurs and artists, highlighting the community’s desire for a space to connect, create, and celebrate. Kagami emphasizes that this work is not about her: “This work to ideate a future Japantown for our grandchildren’s grandchildren is a community effort.”
As we relate to being examples for our children, she shares a touching reminder she was given from her son, “Mom what you are doing is important, as a woman leader you have an opportunity to build momentum.” Piecing together all of Susie’s experiences, roles, and communities she has been part of, I am excited to see this beautiful puzzle come together.
Interested in being a piece of this puzzle? Visit KOHO for more information.