Click MAP to locate destinations preceded by yellow numbers.

Japanese emigrated to San Francisco in large numbers in the 1890s and lived largely South of Market until the ‘06 quake destroyed that neighborhood. They moved to the Western Addition and established Nihon­ machi, now Japantown. You can experience the art and culture of Japan by touring Japantown, especially the three-block-long 23 Japan Center on Geary Blvd.

Start the day with Japanese pastries, mochi-gashi or manju, at the 24 Benkyodo Coffee Shop (1747 Buchanan; 415-922-1244). Begin the art tour at the 25 Peace Plaza Pagoda at Post and Buchanan, a 100-foot-tall gift from Osaka. 26 Genji Antiques in the Miyako Mall (22 Peace Plaza; 415-931-1616) features kimonos, folk arts and home fur­nishings. On the other side of the plaza in the Kintetsu Mall, halfway down the hall is 27 Mikado Gift Store (415-922-9450), which has Japanese folk arts, dolls and video games. Hungry? 28 May’s Coffee Shop (415-346-4020) has tai-yaki, fish-shaped pancakes filled with sweet beans, and Japanese bento (box lunch) to go. Down the hall at the 29 Ikenobo Ikebana Society (415-567-1011) you can see traditional Japanese flower arranging. 30 Taiyo-do Record Shop (415-885-2818) at the end of the hall has the latest music from Japan.

For lunch, try 31 Mifune Restaurant’s (415-922-0337) home-made udon noodles, 32 Isobune’s (415-563-1030) sushi with floating boat dishes, or 33 Benihana (415-563-4844), where the food is prepared with flair and cooked at your table. Across the Webster St. bridge is the 34 San Francis­ co Taiko Dojo Showroom (1581 Webster. Suite 200; 415-928-2456) — music classes, contempo-rary art and information about taiko drum concerts. Stop in at 35 Shige Antiques (1730 Geary; 415-346-5567) for beautiful kimonos. 36 Kinokuniya Bookstore (1581 Webster; 415-567-7625) has all the best reference materials on Japan, including art, culture, history and language, and its stationery store across the hall has a wide selection of rice paper and stationery. Downstairs, 37 Asakichi Japanese Antiques (1750 Geary; 415-921-2147) sells folk arts, an­ tiques and ceramics; in front of the store is a replica of a castle from Osaka, San Francisco’s sister city. Next door at 38 Juban Yaki-niku House Japanese BBQ (1581 Webster; 415-776-5822), cook your own Japanese or Korean meals.

Leave the Japan Center and head up to 39 Maruwa Food Co. (1737 Post; 415-563-1901), a grocery store that has sushi and a deli for takeout lunch. Across the street is 40 Hokubei Mainichi (1746 Post; 415-567-7323), a Japanese American daily newspaper that is a great resource for events and sometimes gives tours. 41 Tora-Ya Restaurant (1734 Post; 415-931-5200), Japantown’s oldest res-taurant, has good food and reasonable prices. Next door is 42 Sharaku (1726 Post; 415-929-9084), which sells Japanese music and instruments. 43 Soko Hard-ware (1698 Post; 415-931-5510) — don’t be misled by the name — carries Japanese art, tools and art supplies.

44 Sakai K. Uoki Co. (1656 Post; 415-921-0514) is the oldest grocery store in Japantown and known widely for its impeccably fresh fish. At 45 Korea House (1640 Post; 415-563-1388), which has good food and reasonable prices, you can cook your own Korean dinner. Stop in at 46 Paper Tree (1743 Buchanan; 415-921-7100) for origami samples and rice paper. 47 Iroha Restaurant (1728 Buchanan; 415-922-0321) serves fresh homemade Chinese-style ramen noodles, and 48 Sanko Cooking Supply (1758 Buchanan; 415-922-8331) carries a nice selection of ceramics and Japanese kitchenware.

The 49 Nichi Bei Kai building has a traditional Tea Ceremony Room. Call in advance for reservations (1759 Sutter; 415-751-9676).

S.F. Taiko Dojo showroom in Japantown

Shige Antiques in Japantown