Japantown Visioning Project
What is the Japantown Streetscape Project?
The Japantown Streetscape Design is guided by the community-led Japantown Design Strategy, adopted in 2021. Developed through extensive engagement with Japantown community members, cultural leaders, and stakeholders, the strategy establishes a long-term vision rooted in remembrance, resilience, and cultural continuity.
View the Japantown Design Strategy (PDF)
The streetscape design builds on this foundation, translating community priorities into a physical vision for Japantown Street. The goal is to create a more walkable, culturally expressive corridor that honors Japantown’s history while supporting its future as an active and visible cultural space in downtown Salt Lake City.
Key design elements include:
- Enhanced pedestrian experience and safety
- Cultural markers and storytelling elements reflecting Japantown’s history
- Public gathering spaces for community events and daily use
- Streetscape improvements, including landscaping and lighting
The design is currently at approximately 40% completion. Based on recent community input, near-term infrastructure improvements are paused while the project continues to be refined and coordinated with broader redevelopment in the surrounding area.
Future phases will continue to be guided by the principles outlined in the Japantown Design Strategy and shaped through ongoing community engagement.
Phased Approach
The estimated cost to implement the full streetscape is just over $11 million, with ongoing maintenance costs estimated between $160,000 and $200,000 annually. These figures are expected to increase over time.
Given the scale of investment required, improvements are anticipated to be delivered in phases. This approach allows key elements of the design to be introduced early, while building toward the full vision over time.
This strategy allows for meaningful elements to be introduced early, while maintaining flexibility to align future infrastructure improvements with broader redevelopment in the surrounding area, including Salt Palace renovations and district-wide investment.
Each phase is designed to build on the last, ensuring that improvements reflect both community priorities and long-term sustainability.
Project Status
The Japantown Streetscape Design is currently at approximately 40% design completion.
Based on recent community input, near-term infrastructure improvements—including tree plantings and streetscape work—are currently paused. This reflects a community-driven decision to ensure future investment aligns with broader redevelopment in the area and long-term priorities for Japantown.
While infrastructure improvements are paused, cultural investment is moving forward. A community-informed mural will be installed in Summer 2026, marking the first visible phase of implementation.
Future improvements will be delivered in phases as design, funding, and surrounding development timelines come into alignment.
What You’ll See Next
- Installation of a community-informed mural (Summer 2026)
- Continued community engagement and design refinement
- Coordination with Salt Palace renovation and surrounding district development
- Future streetscape improvements delivered in phases as timing and funding align
New Public Art in Japantown
Salt Lake City’s Public Art Program, in partnership with the Community Reinvestment Agency and the Japantown Art Committee, has selected artist Cole Eisenhour to design a mural for Japantown Street.
The mural will be installed on the north-facing wall of the Multi-Ethnic Senior Highrise (MESH), overlooking 100 South.
Developed through a community-led process, the mural reflects themes of remembrance, resilience, and cultural continuity, drawing inspiration from kintsugi—the Japanese art of repairing what has been broken with gold.
Through interconnected visual elements, the mural will highlight generations of Japanese American life in Utah, honoring the past while acknowledging the present and future of Japantown.
This installation represents the first phase of a broader public art initiative in Japantown, creating a visible and meaningful investment while longer-term improvements continue to take shape.
A Historic Cultural Corridor
Salt Lake City’s Japantown once spanned several downtown blocks and served as a vibrant hub for Japanese American life, including restaurants, markets, community institutions, and a Japanese language school.
During World War II, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly incarcerated, including many from Salt Lake City who were sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah.
In the decades that followed, displacement and urban renewal policies led to the demolition of nearly all of Japantown in 1966 to make way for the Salt Palace.
Today, a single block along 100 South remains, anchored by the Japanese Church of Christ and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple. Japantown continues to serve as both a site of memory and an active cultural corridor.
