Media Coverage
Since way before our grand opening on 8.15.2009, NEW PEOPLE has been the talk of the film, fashion, and design world! Follow us on magazines and web articles.
Press Contact: Email Erik Jansen at MediaLab Public Relations. Tel: (714) 620-5017
January 16, 2012
SF Station: Street
Japantown Shopping Guide
( By msieling )
…A relatively recent addition to Japantown is the New People building. It houses a number of stores, including SOU-SOU, a company that takes a modern spin on traditional Japanese apparel. The company does this by creating fresh and modern… Read the article >>>
January 12, 2012
KQED: Bay Area Bites
Tasting Tour Uncovers Japantown’s Tempting Secrets
( By Anna Mindess )
…From the oldest businesses, we transitioned to visit the latest addition to Japantown, the New People complex, a narrow, stylish white edifice which houses the SF Film Society, a café and retail stores such as Sou-Sou for… Read the article >>>
November 10, 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
Post Street, Japantown, S.F.
( By Stephanie Wright Hession )
…4. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright – 1746 Post St.: The New People mall focuses upon Japanese pop culture through fashion, art and film. Here you’ll find frilly dresses, platform shoes and bunny handbags designed by Akinori and Fumiyo Isobe… Read the article >>>
November 9, 2011
ICv2
Horibuchi on New People
( By staff writer )
ICv2 recently interviewed Seiji Horibuchi, founder of Viz Media and founder and CEO of New People (see “Giant J-Pop Center Opens in August”). In Part 1 of this three part interview (which has lots of photos), Horibuchi brings us up to date… Read the article >>>
November 7, 2011
Vogue
Destination of the Month: San Francisco
( By Richard Alleman )
…The newest addition to the Nihonmachi scene is New People, at 1746 Post Street, a three-story glass structure that houses a café, a cinema operated by the San Francisco Film Society, and several funky boutiques, including the first U.S. branch of h.NAOTO, featuring the latest in Japanese Gothic and Lolita fashions; newpeopleworld.com.
Read the article >>>
October 13, 2011
Nichi Bei Weekly
San Francisco’s Japantown scores ‘Japanese soul food’
( By TOMO HIRAI )
New People’s Cinema Café recently added “Japanese soul food” to its menu. Onigilly, a food cart that sells onigiri (Japanese rice balls), opened its franchise at the cafe on Oct. 7, following its success at previous events in San Francisco’s Japantown… Read the article >>>
October 13, 2011
Nichi Bei Weekly
Punk glam rock fashion with all the thrills
( By TOMO HIRAI )
Following a successful prelude of fashion shows and a temporary pop-up store during the J-Pop Summit Festival 2011, which was held in August, the h.Naoto store opened at the New People building in San Francisco’s Japantown on Oct. 7… Read the article >>>
October 9, 2011
STYLE WYLDE
Retail report: Naoto-mania takes over San Francisco
( By staff writer)
This weekend local fashion fans were buzzing with news that the first ever h.Naoto US flagship store was opening in San Francisco’s Japan Town neighborhood. Housed on the second floor of the iconic New People Building, the shop features…. Read the article >>>
September 1, 2011
Crunchy Roll
J-Pop Summit Festival 2011: SOU・SOU Brings the Kyoto Cool
( By Emily Balistrieri )
It seems like NEW PEOPLE had to beg a bit to get fashion designer Takeshi Wakabayashi out of his shell. “I sent a love letter to him, seriously,” said Seiji Horibuchi, the founder (of NEW PEOPLE as well as Viz Media), but Wakabayashi was… Read the article >>>
August 30, 2011
Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi
J-Pop Summit 2011
( By hana )
Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was pretty awesome as we attended the 3rd annual J-Pop Summit Festival in San Francisco. It’s a street fair that covers a few blocks in the heart of Japantown with music, fashion shows, movies… Read the article >>>
August 29, 2011
SF Weekly
Tokyo’s h.Naoto: More Style than Lady Gaga’s Latest Gag
( By Stephanie Echeveste )
Gothic. Lolita. Punk. A major player in the popularization of these trends is the Japanese brand h.Naoto. A store is scheduled to open soon at New People in Japantown, the first location outside of Japan. If you like Betsey Johnson, love Alexander McQueen, are maybe into vampires, and actually care about uniqueness… Read the article >>>
August 21, 2011
SF Gate
J-Pop Summit festival to feature Japanese trends
( By Beth Hughes )
Tokyo fashion designer Naoto Hirooka. Girl singers, human and otherwise. And that’s just the beginning. This year’s J-Pop Summit on Saturday and next Sunday in Japantown will showcase a variety of what’s big in Japan today… Read the article >>>
July 2011
Los Angeles Times Magazine
Bay Watch
( By Elizabeth Hughes )
This is a full-on Tokyo shopping-as-entertainment experience condensed in a sleek glass-fronted building by Torafu Architects in Japantown. The Superfrog Gallery showcases artists influenced by Japanese pop culture. For a hit of Harajuku street style, step into Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Black Peace Now. Find updated versions… Read the article >>>
March 25, 2011
7×7 Magazine SF
What’s the Deal: A Miner Miracle, Black Peace Now + More
( By Lorraine Sanders )
You’re just going to have to find a way to deal with this…
A Miner Miracle: The nonprofit organization is holding an off-site sale this weekend at the Auditorium of St. Anne in the Sunset (850 Judah St.) on Saturday and Sunday. Check the Twitter feed for more info, but we hear that labels such as Ann Taylor and Michael Kors are among the merchandise. …. Read the article >>>
January 18, 2011
LA Times
‘Gantz’: Dark anime goes live-action with L.A. premiere
( By Charles Solomon )
“Gantz,” a live-action feature based on the popular anime and manga series created by Hiroya Oku, will premiere Jan. 20 at Mann’s Chinese 6 in Hollywood — nine days before the film debuts in Japan.
The dark, violent story opens as alienated high school student Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and his friend Masuru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) are killed trying to rescue …. Read the article >>>
September 21, 2010
CNN GO
Experience Japanese pop at the J-Pop Summit Festival in San Francisco
( By Yoko Kumano )
Japanese pop culture’s most expressive proponents reach out to a U.S. audience.
Tokyo moved to San Francisco for a few days in September as multi-entertainment complex, NEW PEOPLE… Read the article >>>
September 20, 2010
MTV IGGY
J-Pop Summit in San Francisco: Cosplay, Pocky-Eating, Music, More! (Photos!)
( By MTV IGGY )
After the success of the first J-Pop Summit last year, the folks at New People and San Francisco’s Japantown decided to make this colorful, artistic celebration an annual affair. On Saturday, September 18 (and several days leading up to this event), Japantown became the epicenter of J-pop culture fun, inviting bands… Read the article >>>
September 17, 2010
USA Today Travel
J-Pop Summit 2010: Tokyo comes to San Francisco
( By Yoko Kumano )
Japanese pop culture can be as baffling to many Americans as Japanese toilets. (The new ones sport as many buttons as a TV remote!)
But an all-day festival Saturday in San Francisco showcasing cutting-edge Japanese fashion, film, music and more….
Read the article >>>
September 13, 2010
7×7 Magazine
NEW PEOPLE’s J-POP Summit Festival Week Arrives
( By Meghann Myers )
Brace yourself: J-POP Summit Week has landed in Japantown, and it’s geared up to be a sensory overloaded experience in the best way possible. The festival’s helmed by Japantown megaplex NEW PEOPLE and is a celebration of all things J-POP culture. It kicks off tonight with a lecture on “sexy bad girl roles from Japanese cinema,” and continues the heat through this weekend’s all-day street…
Read the article >>>
June 18, 2010
The New York Times / Travel
Heads Up | An All-Japanese Mash-Up
( By Bonnie Tsui )
THOUGH the Japantown area of San Francisco has remained largely static since the 1970s — stretches of concrete, blocky mini-malls and lots of sushi restaurants — a new wave of Japanese popular culture, from monster movies to Lolita dresses, has hit the area, thanks to the recent arrival of New People, a five-level, glass-walled, 20,000-square-foot shrine to all things Japanese…
Read the article >>>
June, 2010
AsianWeek
Taiwanese Artist Debuts New Exhibit at NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE‘s SUPERFROG Gallery is proud to announce Taiwanese artist Yu-Cheng Chou’s newest exhibition, Because 64 Crayons Made in the USA, opening on June 26th and running until August 1st. Chou will attend a special opening party …
Read the article >>>
June, 2010
AEROPLAN ARRIVAL
Things to do in San Francisco
( By WILLIAM WASS )
WHAT TO DO
Expect the gleefully unexpected at New People, an exotic, 20,000-sq.-ft. enclave that gives a hyperactive jolt to historic Japantown’s emporium-style shopping, subdued restaurants and antique dealers. Developed by a local film distribution …
Read the article >>>
May, 2010
SFWeekly: Best Of Award
Best New Shopping Experience – 2010
Where else can you get Japanese goth dresses, anime DVDs, and gorilla-shaped iPod speakers, all under the same roof? New People offers all those items and more. Opened by VIZ Media founder Seiji Horibuchi, the three-story building houses…
Read the article >>>
May 19, 2010
7×7 Magazine
Best Of San Francisco 2010: Home+Design
(By Leilani Labong)
Best Turning-Japanese Trend
If you’ve been intrigued by the goings-on behind the sparkling all-glass facade of Japantown’s bustling New People Mall, designed by SF’s Kwan Henmi architecture firm, here’s what to expect: anime movies in the underground cinema, Lolita-style attire for purchase…
Read the article >>>
May 1, 2010
Toxic Graveyard Podcast
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This time around we have Mika from San Francisco’s New People / Viz Cinema! She talks about this great theater/store dedicated to Japanese culture and film…Go to site >>> [podcast]http://www.newpeopleworld.com/wp-content/uploads/mp3/Toxic_Graveyard_Podcast_episode_3.mp3[/podcast] |
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April, 2010
Food & Wine Magazine
25+ Food & Culture Experiences in Cities Across the U.S.
(By Kelly Snowden, Michelle Shih, Jen Murphy)
San Francisco: See It | Taste It
New People For Japanese-pop-culture fiends, this cinema and art gallery serves Blue Bottle Coffee and tasty bento boxes from Delica (newpeopleworld.com)….
Read the article >>>
March 19, 2010
jetBlue
Meet New People: Shopping, Japanimated
(By Eliza Sarasohn)
San Francisco’s historic Japantown district may lack the density of tourist photo ops you’ll find in Chinatown, but from a cultural perspective, it’s a goldmine. After de-stressing the traditional Japanese way (with a nice long soak at Kabuki Bathhouse) and slurping some udon at…
Read the article >>>
February, 2010
Lucky Magazine
New People
Seiji Horibuchi, founder of Viz Media—the largest distributor of English-translated anime and manga in America—spent seven years dreaming up a retail venture that would reflect Japan’s art and fashion scene. The mind-bogglingly cool result is New People, a four-story theater/department store/café/gallery. Every few months…
Read the article >>>
December, 2009
Sunset Magazine

City Find: A TOUCH OF TOKYO
We all love San Francisco’s Japantwon for its traditional shops and noodle joints. But NEW PEOPLE, a for-level pop culture complex steps from the iconic Peace Pagoda…Read the article >>>
October, 2009
Los Angeles Times: Travel
San Francisco: Japantown’s New People offers manga, anime and edgy fashion
(By Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times)
San Francisco’s Japantown had long needed a jump-start. Its soba, sushi and traditional art are great draws, but if you were seeking, say, platform shoes to knock the knee-high socks off the Goth-Lolita-fashionista…
Read the article >>>
September 13, 2009
The Sacramento Bee
Japanese culture, S.F.-style, rises into the 21st century
(By Carla Meyer)
SAN FRANCISCO – Japantown, a six-square-block area of this city known for its restaurants and shops, recently became a hub for cinema as well. Japantown’s main drag, Post Street, holds the Sundance Kabuki multiplex and the Viz Cinema, both of which have…
Read the article >>>
August 29, 2009
Gothic Beauty Magazine
New People Grand Opening and the J-Pop Summit Festival 2009
(By Ruby Holiday)
Earlier this year I learned of a new store that was set to open in August. This store was designed to showcase big names, interests and all other things that make Japanese pop culture so exciting. Being someone that has been interested in Japanese culture…
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August 27, 2009
The Examiner
New People: new investment in SF Japantown
(By George Calys)
It’s the last thing anyone would expect to see–a new, from the ground up, retail building in the current retail-averse economy. But that’s exactly what developer Seiji Horibuchi has done in San Francisco’s Japantown. Horibuchi founded VIZ Pictures and Media in San Francisco…
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August 16, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
J-Pop festival delivers in S.F.
(By Robert Selna)
Harajuku girls and Japanese movie stars showed up Saturday to San Francisco’s Japantown to celebrate the opening of the New People J-Pop complex and to get a peek at its offerings of art, design, film and quirky fashions. Billed as the J-Pop summit, attractions included…
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August 9, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
J-Pop explodes: New People mall opening in S.F.
(By Beth Hughes)
Pop goes Japantown. New People, the nation’s first retail and entertainment complex dedicated to Japanese popular culture, opens on Post Street on Saturday. J-Pop, as its friends call it, is all about the cultural phenomena that are comic books, animated films, movies…
Read the article >>>
August 6, 2009
SFGate
The Pokemon generation grows up
(By Jeff Yang)
As manga mogul Seiji Horibuchi prepares for the launch of his latest venture, a media center/retail concept in San Francisco dubbed “New People” — he explains to Jeff Yang why America, or at least the Bay Area, is ready for the mainstreaming of J-pop…
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July 28, 2009
The Examiner
Yoshitaka Amano Interview and SUPERFROG Gallery
(By James Fleenor)
NEW PEOPLE is not the average cultural exhibit. This new attraction opening next month, August 15th, in San Francisco, CA, is unlike anything seen in the states with its mixture of Japanese culture, art, cinema and much more. Part of this mixing of …
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July, 2009
MTV Iggy
GRAND OPENING, SAN FRANCISCO: FIRST ADVENTURE OF THE J-POP CENTER PROJECT
(By Stan Yee)
VIZ Pictures, a Japanese live-action film distributor and producer of the J-Pop Center Project, adds a captivating new dimension to the city of San Francisco with the opening of a vivid new attraction – NEW PEOPLE – in the heart of the city’s historic Japantown…
Read the article >>>








































