There were two things I wanted to do on my trip to the Bay Area - eat good food and buy a warrior shirt. I had seen a sumo fish warrior shirt in Japantown SF but decided to buy it at Nikkei because they let me try it on in the bathroom. The staff are super accommodating and friendly. There is a variety of asian inspired goods ranging from music cds from hawaii to asian inspired legos like a shiba inu and daruma doll. I'll definitely be back to get more sumo fish shirts! They're comfortable, flattering and the designs are super fun! Mahalo to the cashier who let me try on the shirts. He was really nice! read more

Super nice store that promotes Japanese and Hawaiian fashion and items! It's a medium sized venue with lots of personality from their Lego blocks of daruma statues, to colorful Hawaiian dress shirts, and stunning haori. I was impressed by their elegant haoris for men with grand designs of Torii gates and cranes on the river surface. They have books, toys, and much more! The owner was super cordial and had lots of conversations with customers while I was browsing their wares. read more

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Heard that they carried really cool socks so I decided to pay a visit & I was not disappointed! Located in Japantown, it's a little shop with lots of different knick knacks. Great place to go for gifts! The section for socks is small but to be honest, they sell really nice designs compared to other sock stores (and I've been to many). I couldn't decide between the waves, cherry blossoms, etc. I ended up with the last pair of Shiba Inu socks & I loveeee them! The owner is also a very friendly guy. If you don't know what kind of gifts to buy you could never go wrong with dope socks! read more

Nikkei Traditions - super cute socks! - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Jose, California

Great store for its variety of Japanese American shirts, books, movies, kitchen items, taiko items, toys, and more. Really love these nanobrick builds, great gifts. read more

Nikkei Traditions - Shiba Inu nanobrick builds - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Jose, California

One of the cutest more unique stores with all local vendors! They have a books area with music all that covers San Jose Taiko as well as Jtown's Obon. They have local shirts, prints and hand made shirts. read more

Nikkei Traditions - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Jose, California

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Nice, family-owned/operated gift shop with a variety of Asian/Pacific Islander themed goods. I really like the t-shirts, snacks, and music selection on hand. read more

Went to the Obon festival the other day and after going around and enjoying the games, food and festivities we decided to check around the stores near it since we are in Japantown. I was actually looking for fan freebies but one of the organizers said that its difficult tracking "the fan lady" who hands them out. He then suggested that if I was looking for traditional Japanese fans we can check out the stores by the corner. Good idea, so we went. And so we entered Nikkei Traditions. It's a small gift shop that sells a variety of items from nick knacks and clothes. Some japanese and tropical (more like hawaiian) clothes. My daughter lit up automatically when she saw those cute japanese erasers for $1 each. I also was browsing through paper cat fans but finally opted for a more durable plastic fan for about 5 bucks. On the back of the store they also have CD's for sale and those cold and hot reusable bags. I saw alot of awesome designs but opted to buy a cute one for my daughter that has small musubi prints all over it. The bag which was more than $7 is rather reasonable cause she can use it as a small bag for school or as her lunch box to school. She loves it so much so for me that's priceless.... Love the place and recommends Yelpers to check it out. read more

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HOW DO I NOT HAVE A REVIEW FOR NIKKEI TRADITIONS!?!?!?!??! I love this place. Lots of cool little knick knacks, tshirts, stuff from Japan, some Hawaiian things, and just a store full of cool. I found a few useless but had to have it stuff here including a hello kitty cell phone dangle (really? yea, I am that girl). I found some very cool books on Japanese and Japanese American culture (Nikkei means Japanese American). Also, some of the girls who work there are SOOOOO knowledgeable! I love going in here to just to talk sometimes. I only wish I lived closer to Japantown so I could go more often. read more

Nikkei Traditions - They carry Fluff! - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Jose, California

Nice variety of Japanese and Hawaiian themed t-shirts.You can find ones that are hard to find elsewhere,like kawaii versions of the Warriors and modern Japanese art.There are also good quality Hawaiian shirts.This is a good place to get souvenirs fromm Japantown.Plenty of Hawaiian music CDs and also Japanese foods. read more

Good selection. Friendly staff. Easy parking on Solana and plenty of cafe's close by.

Love this cute store. The staff is super friendly and have lots of things from books, to clothing to art pieces. I had the pleasure of working here about 10 years ago and still love this place. My favorite is the cookies and shortbread cookies they have. So light and crispy. I love it!!! Be sure to check out the books and Isaland Jam CDs while your there too. :) read more

Really cute place to find unique gifts. I love the t-shirts that they carry - I particularly like the one that says "I suck at Math", and the Spam ones. Really cute onesies that have a little bowl of rice or sushi characters. Another favorite item was a spatula holder that said "Have a Rice Day" :) Lots of Japanese and Hawaiian trinkets, just lotsa cute, cute stuff. The hubby found some Hawaiian crispy chocolate chip cookies that he and our offspring devoured in like, 30 seconds. A good stop before or after picking up some Mochi next door. read more

Nikkei Traditions - Crispy and Sweet! - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Jose, California

Outstanding service during these covid times. I found out that they were only open on the weekends, so I headed down quickly. I bought several jars of cookies to ship to a friend in Vegas and gordon went above and beyond to find me several boxes to ship them in and even provided bubble wrap. Thank u thank u read more

I love this store! They have a ton of nice gifts and clothing. They sell face masks, SJ gear and sports gear along with Hawaiin and Japanese gifts. I believe they sell books as well. The staff is always friendly. Also I can't forget about Kirstie's Kookies! The chocolate chip cookies are the best and you can buy them here :) read more

Since we already pick up our box of manju and mochi from Shuei-do, we took a walk around SJ Japantown. At this time of the morning, the restaurants weren't opened yet, and a few of the shops were open. This was one of these shops. This is a cute little store, next to Shuei-do. As previous Yelpers have mention, they carry Japanese-themed t-shirts, books, decorations, and various gifts. They also carry a small selection of Hawaiian-theme gifts, such as t-shirts, key chains, CD's, spam musubi molds, spam musubi stuffed animals,........ My daughter found a couple of spam musubi rubber stamps, and bought them. Owner of the store was working behind the counter was nice and helpful. Great place to shop for some unique and fun gifts. read more

Deep in the soul of this 30 something gal still lies the heart of a 10 year old that is enamored with Hello Kitty and cute little chotckies. Thus explains the big *GASP* the first time I walked into Nikkei Traditions years ago. Nikkei Traditions is a charming shop that carries a wide array of Japanese and Hawaiian gifts from clothing, decorations, CDs, stationary, books, snacks, and those MUST-HAVE items that are so darn cute--- even if you don't know what to do with them :) Some of the fav things that I've purchased over the years have been: - Mahalo Boxed Cards - Slippa' Ornaments - Hawaiian/Island CDs - Baby Onesies with Pidgin sayings - The bf had even picked up a musubi mold as a gag gift :) I definitely recommend stopping by if you're in the neighborhood! read more

Great locally owned little knick knack type shop right on the main drag of Japantown on jackson. Parking is street only, but this isn't the mission impossible that you find in santa cruz/san francisco. It usually isn't too much trouble to find a spot in Japantown. If needs must there is a surface a lot a block away or so. The shop is quite eclectic offering tons of stuff for the casual visitor ranging from poke balls (with poke animal key chain inside), sticker books and candy items for children(or the child at heart) Hawaiian/Japanese cookbooks, history books specific to Asians in California, t shirts, kimonos for both children and adults, souvenir cups, glasses, aprons, key chains etc., and a magnificent collection of Hawaiian folk style uklele music. Among many many other items. All in all this is a wonderful place to stop and browse at if you are ever bouncing around Japantown . It truly is store full of cool. read more

I love coming in to this little shop. They have a little of everything Japanese and Hawaiian. The last time we stopped in was during Nikkei Matsuri. My husband and I were looking for a cute reusable bag for a baby shower gift for later that day. We didn't see anything we liked outside. Lucky for us, Nikkei Traditions saved the day! They had a few to choose from on the back wall. They even gave us some Nikkei tissue paper to finish off the gift bag. I especially love the funny shirts. Its a great place to look when your searching for small gifts like books, cd's, and toys. Staff are always nice and helpful. I highly recommend! read more

Nikkei Traditions is one of my favorite little stores. Many of my clothing tops were bought there and I like to get T-shirts for my 10 year old grandson (he loves Anime character shirts). And I buy books for him there. When he was a baby, I bought various things for him there - including wooden sushi to play with. He now loves to eat sushi. I also buy CDs of Japanese or Hawaiian music, and socks, and Japanese hair ornaments for friends who have lots of long hair (I don't). The owner is very nice and I feel welcomed every time I go in. I just wish they were open more often - lately not open midweek. So I go on the weekend when they are open. And then have coffee at Roys and Ice Cream at JT Express. read more

"Got Rice?", "Got Spam?", "Shitake Happens", are just some of the logos on t-shirts found here. They don't really stock XL-size which is a bummer. Great little giftshop with funny-themed t-shirts, some Hawaiian shirts, Hawaiian music CDs, solar bobbing neko cats, stuffed smiley-faced onigiri pillows, little sushi stickers, plastic graduation leis, some limited jewelry. A little touch of everything. They also have a great little tourist, culture, and cookbook section in the back. Including recipe books for different types of Hawaiian POKE and MOCHI. Oh I'm sorry, did you happen to go today and find they were suddenly out of MOCHI COOKBOOKS and you'll have to wait for them to restock? What? I didn't do it... read more

Whether you're looking for unique (cheap to pricey) gifts, there's a bit of everything here in this tiny store. Thanks Sofi for taking the pics! It's so small, but you can spend an hour easily here! From the T-shirts to the chochkas to the great and interesting artwork, it's a fun place to shop. Most appears to be good to great value too. Helpful staff. Wheelchair accessible, but it may be awkward to navigate once you're inside. There are some very unique pieces of fun art too! Just make sure that you get some fresh manju next door.... read more

After going to the Manju shop I had a looksy in here today. Tons of confections and candied goodies you can't find in regular stores. Any place that has the second edition Spam cookbook deserves four stars in my book. It is your usual J-Town store that is small, but if you blink, you miss an inch of bookshelf or table space that has some little trinket you feel compelled to buy. Additionally, you can buy a Kristi Yamaguchi bobble head as well as her children's book here... holdin' it down for JAs everywhere *nods head* I loved the mini sushi stickers and the t-shirts were a hoot. If you are a looking for those limited edition Japanese Church cookbooks-- the volumes are located in the back of the store near the Kristi Yamaguchi's "Ice Skating for Dummies" book. read more

After going to the manju shop next door to purchase, (what my husband has begun calling my "Japanese crack") we stopped in here. This is a great store! They have lots of hard to find Japanese items:T-shirts, books,glass decorations, pottery etc. My husband had a nice time looking through some books he remembered from his childhood, and was impressed they actually had them! My only complaint would be the lack of selection of women's t-shirts. There wasn't much of a variety of colors, designs, or sizes. I bought my husband a cute T-shirt, and it was priced reasonably, (actually more so than I had expected, since this is a specialty store.) I really enjoyed this shop, and will definitely be back! read more

This store has plenty of cute stuff such as a stuffed onigiri w/ a smile. Its actually quite adorable but too bad its 35$. Other things are a shirt that says "Shitake Happens" I found that quite funny. Inside the store has a lot of Hawaiian influenced things and spam and other various spam related items. The lady working the store is really nice and friendly. I enjoy browsing around the store, its quite a pleasure as you will not find many things in the store common in other stores. Quite unique indeed. Staff is friendly read more

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Such a random place............unique, cheap and lots of random Japanese stuff: T Shirts that say: Got Rice? on them, baby clothes, Japanese dresses for little girls, sweatshirts, umbrellas, amazing caramel popcorn Japanese style (larger pieces, sticker and just a round shape); things to hold your purse up at the bar, napkins, plates, statues, mirrors, it's all random yet it all makes sense. Everything is super reasonable, and unique. read more

Stopped in for a browse. The store contains a mix of eclectic things from fridge magnets to dvds to shirts. The mix is because there are items and gifts that you look for when shopping for a japanese american person. Prices were reasonable and the staff friendly and helpful. The key thing that I found was a set of stainless steel travel chopsticks. read more

A Fave shop in Japantown. I love this store, they have the cutest Japanese/Hawaiian gifts and clothes. The almond cookies from Hawaii are so good and I know, so fattening. They have pretty jewelry, like the plumeria inspired items and cell phone accessories like keroppi (frog) and cranes. I bought the cutest black tank top that says, "Shiitake happens". A few doors down from the manju shop. http://www.yelp.com/biz/baEPmtktizrZDmH4p_OJ4A read more

I use to work here like... 4 years ago but please don't think this place is biased because I went back here this past year to finally purchase my first item here.. haha I always thought this place has stupid nick nacks that no one would ever buy when I worked here but when a family friend moved to Ca from Hawaii and randomly asked if I knew where to buy a "mahalo" sign.. I immediately said.. "oh Nikkei Traditions in Japantown!" To my surprise.. the door signs, bathroom signs.. house signs.. were all still available. "Mahalo for removing your shoes"... was the one I purchased. It was nice going through the store again.. Looking at the new shirts.. the new pictures.. its just a really cute store with really random items that will bring a smile to anyones face. I guess I appreciate this store more now than when I worked here.. read more

I love this place!!! The only thing bad about this is that I don't have a good excuse to go to the sales at the festivals and buddhist church anymore!! Excellent place for hand made items and asian inspired gifts. They have everything from snack items, to rubber stamps, shirts, purses, music, art, baby items, magnets, jewelry... Huge bonus is that they also sell Phiten products (http://www.phitenusa.com/)!! read more

This is definitely a gift shop you must stop by if you're in San Jose Japantown. You will find a wide variety of gift items, from stationery kits to t-shirts to unique trinkets. Everything Asian! The staff is super friendly. The items are rare and one of a kind so expect to find things here you wouldn't find elsewhere. My favorite item I once saw was a t-shirt that said "Got spam?" Classic. read more

Have visited this shop several times and it's a fun little shop to buy Japanese/Hawaiian little gifts such as tshirts a few Hawaiian and Kimono inspired clothing, and misc. items including a little fashion jewelry. They also carried a nice little variety of kids books with Japanese themes. I felt the staff was nice, smiling, and they gladly gift wrapped the t-shirt I bought in a very nice box. The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars was because they didn't have the t-shirt "Shiitake happens" in many sizes except XXLs. Let's give them more business so they can buy more stock! When you are in San Jose's Japantown, drop in and check out this cute little shop. read more

This place reminds me of walking into a locally owned store in Hawaii with local artists goods and other great Asian stuff on their shelves. Nice selection of t-shirts, cookbooks, CD's, hula stuff, DVD's, jewelry, and other gift items. The owners are super friendly and helpful if you want to find something. read more

Nikkei has a nice selections of handcrafted art and gifts with a heavy Hawaiian influence. They have a large selection of T-shirts.

The customer service here is great...very personable and friendly. And the t-shirt selection is very unique. There is also a bunch of other items that would make good gifts. read more

Nikkei Traditions is a great store to buy unusual gifts with a Asian Flair. There are many unusual gift items that you can not find anywhere else. This is the place to go buy Asian American Music and Films that are impossible to buy in regular stores. The owners and the employees are very helpful, thoughtful and kind. Go see what they have! I hope you fall in love with their store as I have. read more

They have Hawaii and Japanese stuff, expensive clothing and random trinkets. But definitely a fun spot to check out! I found a shirt that says "Hapa" and I love it :) read more

This is a niche store, but their products are unique - won't find most of them anywhere else. The prices are reasonable, and will make good gifts. Because it's a small store, you'll get a lot of warm advice from the shopkeepers. read more

This is a really cute Japanese and Hawaiian gift shop. They have unique gift items that are hard to find on the mainland, but plentiful if you are in Hawaii. The store is small, but charming. Glad to see that they are still in business. read more

Thank you, Nikkei Traditions for holding the Mashi event. It was great to get my book signed by Mashi and Mr. Fitts. You guys rock! Great customer service and very welcoming establishment. Will definitely be shopping at your store again in the future. read more