The Returning Visitor's Guide to Japantown

If you've been to Japantown before, here's an itinerary that will make you want to return.
Japantown is tucked away in a little pocket of the City, and the somewhat odd urban design in the area can make it hard to find the best restaurant and food gems. But that’s why we’re here.
Call it a gift from El Nino or just Mother Nature doing her annual thing, but springtime is returning to San Francisco in a big way.
Sometimes you show up in San Francisco on the fly, with no reservations anywhere. Learn some tips and find out the best restaurants to dine in without a reservation in advance.
San Francisco has a small community of obsessives who are so freaking intense about their sushi that nobody dare try to tell them who serves the best fish in the city or delivers the best experience. Some of these self-proclaimed experts have been to Japan a zillion times and have a very broad, educated basis for comparison, while others just like to flex their opinions as loudly as possible.
Home to the oldest Japantown in the U.S. and also the oldest Chinatown in the U.S., and one of the largest, San Francisco also is home to Little Saigon. The Asian Art Museum, a stroll through the Japanese Tea Garden and souvenir shopping along Grant Avenue are “musts” for visitors.
With the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival just around the corner, now is the ideal time to visit San Francisco’s historic Japantown. Festival dates are April 11-12 and April 18-19, 2015.