KOHO Is Looking for a New Home
As a strong supporter of KOHO, we would like you to be among the first to know that we will be transitioning out of the Creative Hub’s current location at 1675 Post Street, second floor in January 2027. We have already begun searching for a new home.
While this is a significant transition, we want our funders, clients, and partners to know that KOHO's organization, programs, and commitment to our mission continue.
KOHO’s Creative Hub was founded by Susie Kagami alongside a team of community artists and creators while KOHO was still a program of the Japantown Task Force/Japantown Cultural District (JTF). Our goal was to bring a long-held community vision for cultural arts space to life—a preservation strategy identified in the 2013 Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS) and reaffirmed in the 2023 Japantown Cultural History, Housing and Economic Sustainability Strategy (CHHESS), both formally recognized by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
KOHO helped bring the vision for the Creative Hub to life. The space was generously made available rent-free as a community benefit, with JTF stewarding the license agreement. When KOHO later became independent, JTF continued to pass that benefit through to KOHO, allowing us to grow the Creative Hub into a vibrant community arts and cultural space. We are deeply grateful to JTF for the opportunity to have stewarded this space.
Recently, the financial and operational conditions under which KOHO could remain at the 1675 Post Street, second floor space changed substantially. Against the backdrop of significant cuts to City nonprofit funding, Japantown Task Force/Japantown Cultural District asked KOHO to assume a considerable new monthly financial obligation to help offset losses to support JTF’s Visitor Center operations, along with additional conditions governing our use and operation of the space.
After months of discussion and exploring multiple options with JTF, we determined that accepting those terms would create significant financial and operational risk for KOHO and redirect resources away from our mission and community commitments.
For KOHO, the decision was ultimately both a business decision and a mission decision.
As stewards of philanthropic and public resources, we believe our responsibility is to protect KOHO's long-term financial health and ensure that funding entrusted to us remains focused on the work it was intended to support.
We are very proud of the community KOHO has built at the Creative Hub. In just three years, KOHO has provided 98 free or discounted rentals to nonprofit and community organizations, hosted 140 events, welcomed more than 21,470 participants, and engaged 450 volunteers. Through this work, KOHO has supported artists and arts organizations, built partnerships throughout Japantown and beyond, and created a place where a younger generation could connect with culture, community, and one another.
Perhaps the most meaningful measure of the Creative Hub's success is hearing people say, “This feels like home.”
The Creative Hub became more than a physical space—it became a place of purpose and belonging. But KOHO's work has never been confined to one address.
Our signature programs, such as BonPOP and Destination Nihonmachi, were designed to live in community and can continue as pop-ups through deep partnerships with organizations and venues throughout Japantown, Western Addition, and San Francisco.
People are places, and places are people.
In the near term, our focus is on a smooth transition and securing space to continue FY27 programming without interruption. In parallel, we will continue building the partnerships and philanthropic support needed to eventually establish a permanent, community-controlled home.
Between now and January, we will thoughtfully transition our operations while continuing our mission-aligned programs, partnerships, and commitments. We will also explore new models for how our work can live throughout Japantown and the broader community, further deepening our partnerships with organizations.
This transition reinforces a long-term priority for KOHO: property ownership. For a community that has experienced eviction and displacement across generations, ownership is about more than real estate—it is about stability, self-determination, cultural preservation, and the ability to shape how culturally significant spaces are stewarded for future generations.
Land ownership creates community control—and community control helps protect our ability to shape our own future.
Community ownership has been a priority for KOHO—and for Japantown—well before this transition. Since early 2024, KOHO has been working with real estate advisors, funders, and community partners who specialize in helping nonprofits acquire property and build community control, including exploring land trust and ownership models identified in Japantown’s long-term preservation plans.
Losing space did not create this priority. It sharpens our resolve to pursue it and adds urgency to a timeline already underway.
As we look toward KOHO’s next chapter, we welcome our community into that journey with us. If you have a lead on a potential space, know of an opportunity, or can offer connections, expertise, or resources that could help us secure our next home, we would love to connect.
We remain committed to the mission that has guided us from the beginning: honoring those who came before us, creating space for artists and creators, welcoming all to create a second home that authentically represents who our community is today, and ensuring future generations have a place—and a voice—in shaping and preserving Japantown for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.
Our address may be changing. Our mission is not.
Our next chapter is about building toward something lasting: a permanent, community-controlled home.
As a valued partner, we welcome you to add your voice to conversations we will have over the coming months. If you are open to a phone call or short meeting, please let me know.
In Aloha and Community,
Susie Kagami
Founding Executive Director
On behalf of KOHO, with the support of the KOHO Advisory Board
