Panama Hotel Fundraising Pop-Up
By Barbara Mizoguchi
NAP Editor-in-Chief
Three chefs making sushi while talking with guests at the Panama Hotel. Photo credit: Dave Asahara.
The Panama Hotel in Nihonmachi (Japantown) in Seattle is a 1910 hotel built by the first Seattle Japanese American architect when Japanese individuals could not own property. It was mainly used for single Japanese men arriving to the U.S. looking for work. A hashidate-yu sento (Japanese-style public bathhouse) was built in the basement and today is the only intact Japanese-style bathhouse in North America.
During World War II, when Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forced into incarceration camps by the U.S. government, local families asked the hotel to store their belongings in the basement. After the war, many families did not return to the Seattle area and left their luggage, toys, furniture, clothing, books, etc. in the hotel.
Eighty years later, those items are still there. The current owner, Jan Johnson, is attempting to preserve their history along with the hotel building. All revenues from hotel guests are used for the preservation of the building. Johnson even received the Japan Foreign Minister’s Commendation for her contributions to promote mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. The building was also declared a National Historic Landmark (2006) and a National Treasure (2015) by the National Trust for Historic Preservation—one of only 60 in the U.S.
The Panama Hotel is a great place to meet friends, study, have meetings or simply relax and breathe in its history. It is also an easy place to meet new people or hotel guests. When asked how they found the hotel, many say they were looking for a small hotel or hotels with character and history or to stay near the Chinatown-International District. One such person is Kunihide Nakajima from New York, New York.
Left: Jan Johnson with guests. Photo credit: Barbara Mizoguchi.
Nakajima is an executive chef and partner of Nakaji sushi restaurant in New York which serves 14-course sushi omakase (gourmet dining where the chef decides on the menu with seasonal specialties) along with an assortment of appetizers. He is also a third generation edomae-style sushi chef from the Kanda neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. When he first came to Seattle in 2025, his disciple Keiji Tsukasaki took him to the Panama Hotel cafe to show him the local Japanese American history. Nakajima now only stays at the Panama Hotel whenever he is in Seattle and helps Tsukasaki who is also an edomae-style sushi chef and restauranteur at Ltd Edition Sushi on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Tsukasaki prepares the most authentic and highest quality omakase. He says it is like “going back to his roots” in the coastal town of Fukui, Japan, where he was born. Today, Ltd Edition Sushi is one of the most coveted restaurants.
After learning about the financial struggles Johnson is having preserving the hotel, Nakajima wanted to do something to help. In January 2026, Nakajima and Tsukasaki held the first fundraiser for the hotel. Nakajima then asked his cousin Naritoshi Oyakata, a sushi chef from Yakko Sushi in Tokyo, to do a pop-up fundraiser with him and Tsukasaki at the hotel in May.
Tickets purchased in advance came with a set of sushi traditionally called Gokan Chanchiki. It consisted of five kinds of sushi and two small rolls–this time using bluefin tuna. Guests could take it home or enjoy the sushi in the hotel’s cafe with sake, cocktails, or a variety of teas. Due to the popularity, three afternoon times were scheduled as arrival times. It was a lively crowd even though guests were coming and going. Those in line were moving through the cafe with their drinks. At the bottom of the stairs to the lower level, the three chefs were quickly making sushi in front of the guests and visiting with them. Many stayed, socialized, and took photographs. Johnson enjoyed how the event brought the community closer and wished for more.
What a deeply kind gesture Nakajima, Tsukasaki, and Oyakata offered to Johnson for the Panama Hotel. Their hearts are certainly in the right place and Johnson has friends for life. She desperately needs funds and helping hands. If you can help, please drop by the hotel cafe or contact her.
