Fish Market · 1906

— San Francisco Japantown History Walk —

Kitaichi Sakai arrived in San Francisco in the 1890s. He worked as a cook and sold fish door-to-door from a horse and buggy. After the 1906 Earthquake he opened a combined grocery, fish market and ship's chandlery on Geary Street. The store's name Uoki comes from uo "fish" and ki "happiness,' one of the kanji in Kitaichi's name.
As Nihonmachi grew, the store moved to Post Street. Sakai's customers relied on him for hard-to-find specialties and staples of the Japanese diet: fifty-pound bags of Japanese rice varieties, daikon (a long white radish), kabocha. (Japanese pumpkin), gobo (burdock root), and impeccably fresh fish - to be served raw as sashimi, simmered in a warming seafood nabe (stew) or grilled as shioyaki or teriyaki.
As Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps in 1942, the Sakai family moved all of their possessions, including their truck, into the store and boarded up the front, hoping for the best. Returning from internment in Topaz, Utah in 1945, they were among the fortunate few whose store and possessions were intact. They quickly reopened, providing Japanese foods rich with memories and tradition as well as new items reflecting change and adaptation resulting from the Japanese-American experience.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  San Francisco, CA  |  San Francisco County  |  94115  |  California  |  United States of America

Issei Women's Legacy
A New Ballgame
Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park
Sarcophagus of Thomas Starr King
1545 Divisadero
Blanco's Café & Music Box
851 O'Farrell Street
Talbot-Dutton House
Westerfield House
891 Post Street

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.