As small business month is quickly approaching I was thinking how wonderful and vibrant a community…read moreJapantown San Jose is. There so many seasoned and new diverse small business owners here in the heart of Japantown. Classic Loot, Zonkey, Roy's, Santo Market, Taqueria Corona, Minato, Hukilau, Kazoo are among my families favorites. We have also enjoyed and welcomed new businesses too like Banne (yummy sourdough) and Furbaby Fancy petgrooming (the most posh and elite pet grooming experience) into our rotation as well! I should have just listed all the businesses here! So proud of the businesses that contribute to our community!

What a beautiful área!!! Absolutely loved strolling through this vibrant community for a few hours…read more This was my first time here & found so many stores, restaurants.such a nice to place to walk around. I loved that there's Benches you can sit on just about every block with a bit of history engraved on each bench. Super cute & clean town. Loved all the Art work. San Jose's Japantown is one of the last historic, authentic Japantowns remaining in the US. Definitely try to stop by & explore J town if you're ever driving through San Jose

"As my artist's statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of…read moredeep significance."―Calvin San José has a long line of, shall we say, questionable Public Art (PA) projects; everybody knows about the giant dog turd statue Quetzalcoatl―or as I like to call him Quetzacaca ( goo.gl/lvswBr )―in the Plaza de César Chávez. Let's also not forget the Fallon Statue debacle ( goo.gl/wKEv0g )―and don't get me started on the mangled shopping carts (goo.gl/vbB6NE) passing for a statue on the corner of Alma Ave and Almaden Rd. Need I go on?! So, whenever CSJ does something right I love to point it out. I first read about Ursa Mater (aka Mama Penny Bear) in the Merc from my buddy Sal Pizarro's column. Ursa Mater is a gigantic piece of coin art that was put together by Hayward-based artists Mr & Mrs Ferguson. She first made an appearance at last year's Burning Man festival and is now prominently displayed in Paseo de San Antonio―just east of Plaza de César Chávez, right by Bijan Bakery. The statue of Mama Bear and her two cubs sits at least 10-12' tall and is completely covered in 200,000 pennies ($2,000 worth) to make up the bears fur. It's pretty cool to look at from afar, and even cooler up close. I suggest getting here quickly to check her out, as she will only be on display until the end of May. And then we'll be back to staring at Quetzacaca forever. FOL...

I like to think that these represent the bear on the California flag. The name Ursa Mater…read more Is an excellent play on words by the artist. Ursa Major is Latin for "greater she bear" So Ursa Mater translates roughly to "She bear of matter" ( I only understand a very small amount of Latin so this may or may not be the exact translation). The bear and her cub are made of pennies so it seems the artist's intention was to make a realistic mother bear out of " matter" , hence the name. Also behind the pennies is a concrete core. It's as if these bears have a real fur made out of metal. As the previous reviewer said, there are are a lot of bad San Jose art pieces, but this one is fantastic. Just an edit: it seems to be gone now. Very sad.

Great experience with GREAT GUIDES who really make the visit fun and worthwhile. A must see if in…read moreSan Jose. I recommend this adventure despite my two very serious complaints:. Tour groups are TOO LARGE! they pack over two dozen people into tiny rooms with the people breathing down your neck. Price of the tour is TOO EXPENSIVE: if the groups were smaller so the experience wasn't so rushed and crowded, I would accept the high price. But to charge this amount and then jam you into a too-crowded tour group is simply price-gouging at the expensive of the customer. Really takes away from the positive feeling of the experience. If it weren't for the great guides (maybe I just go a good one?), I don't think this place would do very well on its own. . ..

Had been wanting to go visit ever since I was in 3rd grade. Was so excited to go, even though it's…read more$50, but was deeply put off by a gift shop full of junk that has nothing to do with the beautiful house and the shooting game attraction. Signed on for the optional self guided attic and basement tour and I'm so happy I did. Got to speak with a guy named JT who works there and he was so full of knowledge regarding Sarah and the house. He really gave such a new perspective to the designs I had never thought of before. I understand the tour guides have a script and they like to lean into the paranormal but Sarah is such a character, just like her house. It almost felt disrespectful walking through and hearing they had 'ghost' noises playing in part of the basement. This woman was highly intelligent and did so many great things just to be painted as a crazy woman. Winchester needs to do better. Major shout out to JT, if he ran that place I just know it would be spectacular.

A must for the winter holiday season. The return of the penguins was nice. The whole area should…read morecontinue to be closed off and turned into pedestrian-friendly Christmas town. Thank you

I have been going to Christmas in the Park pretty much all of my life. It has changed a lot, little…read moreby little every year. Some people might not notice the little changes but I have. It's free and a San Jose tradition and always a treat to walk around and get into that festive Christmas spirit. There are hundreds of decorated Christmas trees around the park and also wonderful lights strung around the park as well. I love checking out the different organizations that have their trees there and also the wonderful displays. I love how some of the displays have been updated year after year with new modern versions. They also have added lots of more food, drink and merchandise vendors and a lot of them are pretty good as well. I do miss having the little replica of the San Jose Light Tower and also the snow machines in the park. I hope they bring both of those back at least. But I know Christmas in the Park keeps on evolving and having new and exciting things every year. I look forward to visiting the San Jose tradition year after year and making more new memories. By the way, there's free parking in the city-owned parking garages for the first 90 minutes. Or you can park on the street for free after 6:00 p.m. as well.

5 stars because it's free and I enjoyed my time…read more Pretty chill art museum I liked all the variations of soccer balls and one painting really caught my attention. I appreciate that it is free. They close early so go before 5pm. I was late and only had 30 minutes to end it that was enough time. I ended up sitting outside and just journaled about my day. Such a relaxing evening.

Small museum but friendly staff. Studios in the back of the park. Catering available. Sculptures in…read morethe park and free to walk around.

Lupe the Mammoth is a cool (not so) little structure on the Guadalupe River Trail about 4 miles…read morefrom Alviso. There's not much around the area, so unless you are biking or jogging on the trail, it might seem out of the way to view such a simple little-known monument. But it has a neat little story behind it for anyone interested in art, science, history, or nature, or even just cool quirky attractions that are free of cost. A guy came across the collection of bones while walking his dog along the trail back in 2005. How awesome is that, it's like finding a dinosaur in your backyard! The actual remains can now be found at the Childrens Discovery Museum in San Jose where they can inspire kids to "dig for fossils" and explore the past, but the unique sculpture on the Guadalupe River Trail marks the setting of this magnificent discovery. And it is far from ordinary. It's beautifully crafted out of bent steel pipes, and almost twice the size of the actual baby mammoth remains. The area and the exhibit itself are not run down by trash or graffiti or shady characters, so it makes for a pleasant experience and worth checking out. The area is actual pretty quiet and scenic, besides the Trimble Road highway (there's an underpass that connects the trail if you're looking to cross the busy street). It's surrounded by business parks, with private parking only. So there is no parking at the exact location of the mammoth statue. However if you're driving, there is free street parking on Seaboard Ave (6am-10pm), next to the nearby 76 gas station, within walking distance... Though the sculpture can easily be viewed from Trimble Road, please don't stop on the street (illegally) and block traffic. This isn't the most exciting attraction in San Jose so you shouldn't have too high of expectations. But if looking for a low-key outing that won't cost you a penny, this is a great option (to appreciate this work of art in person, not just through photos).

You can see it from the road, but you can't drive to it (at least not that we could tell). It…read moreappears to only have a bike path leading to it. It was smaller than I was expecting. My husband and I quickly stopped on the side of the road so I could take a picture. I would have given it 4 stars if there would have been a parking lot where we could stop and take pictures and walk around. Still a cool structure though.

Desire is a public art installation located in the Willow Glen District of San Jose. It is one of 3…read morepieces purchased as part of a downtown beautification effort. Desire, created in 2014, is the work of San Jose artist Jeff Owen. From the artist "My sculptures combine the past and the present. I have a deep affinity toward the materials I work with, a wonderful sense of emotion, feelings, and dreams for what the material was once used for and now what it will become in my hands. These feelings direct me on my path. My processes emerge with patterns. Taking one piece of steel; adding to it, deleting from it, constantly discovering the metal's unique appeal. When a sculpture encompasses all of my creative energy, it is finished. My technique is brute force, decide-at-the-moment. The interesting shapes of metal; the patterns, textures, and grains; all entice me. I am fascinated with form. My aspiration is to create sculpture that is completely unique; that no one has done before. I resist conformity and mass production. My art is as individual as I am." The sculpture is both complex and simple with the rust of the corten setting off the red orb in the center. Desire is best part of a larger trip and there are plenty of shops and restaruants in easy proximity to it.

My friend took me here to celebrate my bday and it was such a cute and fun experience!! We did the…read morecandle making and pressed flower candle holder class! First we chose our scents and blended color and scents into our two candles and then from our leftover we got to make a special mini candle combining all of our candle wax! The color came out cute for the combo one! Then we glued on pretty pressed flowers into the glass to hold our candles!! It was so fun and a great place to yap away and craft together! Emir also holds other craft classes in the studio as well which all look fun and interesting!

This was a great experience. I got to spend some one on one time making these cute little frames of…read morepressed flowers! Plenty of flowers and leaves to choose from. The facility was clean and warm. The restrooms were separate but also clean. Emir was awesome! He made us feel welcomed and explained everything thoroughly. I'd take more of these classes. :)

This sculpture has an intricate seek & find pattern showing elements of Asian positivity. Enjoy…read morefinding the hidden imagery! The Key shown in the attached photo allows one to locate everything within. Have fun in celebrating Asian culture!

This is a fairly new sculpture by Roger White Stoller, a 2021 art piece that looks brand new…read moregleaming in the sunlight, located at Heinlenville Park in Japantown (a park that's new as well). I'm familiar with one of his other artworks, Tetrahelix, in Mountain View, and the similarities are easily recognizable, yet the meanings behind the works are unique. The stainless steel Sheltering Wing combines different images beautifully in its design, including bamboo, lotus, butterflies, wind, and clouds, in honor of the Chinese and Japanese cultures, as well as John Heinlen, a German immigrant and landowner who welcomed Chinese immigrants from one of SJ's 5 Chinatowns that burned down in the 1880's. He helped them rebuild their community and established Heinlenville, SJ's longest lasting and final Chinatown, which ceased to exist in 1931 due to anti-Chinese immigration laws and the Great Depression. The site is located in what today is Japantown. Sheltering Wing is more than just a sculpture, it's a wonderful display of art, culture, and history.

Totally responsive upon initial request. Came and looked at job, very quick with quote. Very fair…read moreprice. Work is quite outstanding, down to minutest detail. Very agreeable to work with, had 5-6 exchanges of ideas, with John the customer is the driver, John delivers what he says he will in the time he says it will take. HIGHLY RECOMMEND for mural work, small scale (mine 250 sq ft), or large.

Very creative, professional, easy to work with, and the work is very widely appealing.read more