Soko Hardware is celebrating its 100th year of being open in Japantown in San Francisco.
The store is located along the 1600 block of Post Street and has been a pillar in the Japanese community.
“My grandparents started it in 1925,” Philip Ashizawa, the third-generation owner of Soko Hardware, told CBS News Bay Area. “They unfortunately had to shut down in the early or mid-40s because of the war and were forced to go to incarceration camps. My parents and grandparents went to Topaz, Utah, and they were there for a few years.”
After his family survived the internment camps, they returned to San Francisco and Ashizawa’s father took the helm by opening a new Soko Hardware store where it is located today.
“My father was able to build this store, and we’ve been very lucky to have this building here,” he said. “We now have a lot of Japanese imports, housewares, cultural items, cookware, things like that.”
Ever since Ashizawa graduated from college, he has dedicated his life to his family’s business.
“My parents slowly started delegating more and more responsibilities to me so by the early ’90s,” he said.
Now, he is passing on the family legacy to his children, who have also been helping out at the hardware store.
“Soko Hardware and the Ashizawa family are an institution,” Steve Nikajo, a community organizer, told CBS News Bay Area. “In Japan, you have national treasures. This would be a Japantown’s national treasure.”
“Despite segregation, prejudice and concentration camps, you have this historical community. So, that celebration should occur with that history and legacy,” Nikajo added. “Soko Hardware and the Ashizawa family ought to be recognized and treasured, and hopefully, you come into the store and take a look. You got to keep this thing going as part of the tradition.”
Ashizawa and his wife, Eunice, are family to the Japantown community.
“Being a part of the community, you get to know everyone in the area. And you walk down the street and say hi to your friends and neighbors,” he said.
He vows to continue sharing his heritage with visitors from all around the world.
“I’m not moving, not at this point,” he said, laughing.
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