By The North American Post Staff
Local Nikkei musician Paul Kikuchi’s recent project, “Songs of Nihonmachi,” is a tribute to the thriving old Nihonmachi (Japantown) in Seattle before World War II. A 78RPM record player is set up at the Panama Hotel Tea & Coffee House for patrons to enjoy old songs from the 1920s and 1930s that the local Japanese community likely listened to, as well as contemporary numbers that Kikuchi developed from them.
He was featured at Kay Hirai’s book event at the Nagomi Tea House on Dec. 15, and shared his goal of setting record players up at as many locations as possible to preserve the these good memories of Nihomachi for the future.
