Fresno
Once serving as the Japanese hub of the Central Valley, Fresno streets thrived with over a thousand Japanese in the 1940s, with 8 hotels, 3 boarding houses, 19 restaurants, markets, 5 barbers, 3 bathhouses, 3 beauty shops, 2 theaters, 3 churches, 6 sewing schools, and 120 other businesses. While nearly forty percent of pre-war buildings remain extant, most have been abandoned leaving only a shell of the former town. Kogetsu-do, Central Fish, and Renge Pharmacy are the sole remaining Nikkei businesses. With the opening of the new Fresno Buddhist Church Educational Center outside of town, the distinctive historic Buddhist temple may soon be only a hollow reminder of the once dense neighborhood.