Earlier this year in Jan, I attended a local San Francisco con called AOD (Animation on Display) held over at Hotel Kabuki in Japantown of San Francisco. My friend took me New People, a shopping center sort of across and down the street from the hotel and my jaws dropped. New People is a beautifully designed, very pleasing slice of Tokyo here in America ! I was instantly jealous that it was here in San Francisco and NOT in Los Angeles where I can go visit anytime I want. *sigh*
Here's a quick tour. Let's start in the basement where VIZ Cinema is located. Yup, 143 seats all there for you to enjoy the latest from Japan, as well as classics, favorites, documentaries and of course, anime ! THX-sound yes, HD digital projection yes, me eating popcorn, no. I live in Los Angeles :(
Here's the first floor. See the staircase leading down in the center of the photo ? That goes to the Viz Cinema theater. On the first floor is the Cinema Cafe where you can get a quick cup of coffee as well as bento boxes ! Great place to chill out plus free wifi. And see the railing on the far left of the photo ? Those are stairs going to the Mezzanine level.
New People : The Store on the mezzanine level has design books, magazines, toys, clothes, oh believe me, I must have spent a hour looking through everything. Man, my wallet isn't big enough for this place !
On the second floor is where all the boutiques are : Baby, The Stars Shine Brightly, Black Peace Now, Sou Sou , KoKo by Revolver (they've replaced 6% Dokidoki that used to be there) and Nail Art House where they specialized in nail art,
Finally on the 3rd Floor is the Superfrog Gallery. Yup, if you got a few hours to kill and you're in Japantown, San Francisco, go check them out ! By the way, they got a Flickr with tons of set of photos from their many events from the past year. You can stalk them on Facebook and Twitter.
New People
1746 Post St,
San Francisco, CA 94115
All photos from New People's Facebook and Flickr page.
