Licensing

The Merchant Hotel

As time passed, the community grew and settled in surrounding areas, but Portland’s Nihonmachi always remained the core business district. As the number of families increased from 1910 to 1920, Japantown grew into a respectable place where children could play in the streets and visitors felt comfortable and welcome.

Image: Aya Fukuda on skates with a friend by the Merchant Hotel doorway, ca. 1938. The Merchant Hotel, the current home of the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, housed the offices of the Japanese language daily newspaper Oshu Nippo , a laundry with baths, medical offices, Japanese drygoods store Teikoku Company, and the hotel itself was at times managed by Japanese. Photo courtesy of Yoji Matsushima. Content © Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center .