KOHO Creative Hub Launches Japantown’s First Creative Coworking Space to Preserve Culture, Community & Creativity Amid Budget Crisis
Most affordable coworking space in San Francisco launches this summer with a vision of reclaiming Japantown
San Francisco, CA - May 28, 2025 - KOHO — an artist and organizer-led multidisciplinary arts and culture nonprofit dedicated to preserving and nurturing San Francisco’s historic Japantown — is proud to announce the official launch of its coworking space on June 9, 2025 (located at 1675 Post St, 2nd Floor). Beyond desks and Wi-Fi, KOHO Coworking is a rare container for AAPI and BIPOC creatives, organizers, and entrepreneurs to belong, connect and build power across communities.
KOHO Creative Hub’s coworking program, the most affordable in the city, is a bold response to escalating budget cuts, limited arts funding, and the displacement of communities in San Francisco. Ten percent of all memberships go into an emerging arts fund to be regranted to community arts. This innovative concept regenerates culture, community and sustainability in the arts where every dollar is reinvested in the communities it serves. In a city where creativity and culture are too often priced out, KOHO offers a third space for visionaries to thrive, collaborate, and belong.
“KOHO Coworking isn’t just a place to work — it’s a second home, located in Japantown on land once taken from us. It’s a place to gather, create memories, and to belong. In the face of cultural erasure and economic displacement, we’re creating a sanctuary where AAPI and BIPOC creatives can root, build, and dream together. This is about reclaiming space in Japantown — not just physically, but spiritually and creatively. Every membership, every collaboration, every conversation here is part of a living movement to preserve our past while shaping a future grounded in community power.”
Honoring the Past, Designing the Future
KOHO’s mission is deeply tied to the preservation and evolution of Japantown—one of only three remaining in the United States and the oldest, now 118 years strong. Once spanning 40 blocks before WWII-era incarceration and 1960s urban redevelopment, today’s Japantown has been reduced to nine.
In a city that is rapidly changing and often inaccessible to artists and communities of color, especially of younger generations, KOHO is boldly cultivating a third space to reclaim Japantown’s history while co-creating a future grounded in solidarity, equity, and imagination.
KOHO Coworking pays homage to Japanese cultural traditions — including a “shoes off” policy that transforms the space into a peaceful, sacred environment — while also looking forward by activating intergenerational dialogue, welcoming new creatives, and inviting community members to be part of a living movement.
Why Now? Why KOHO?
In 2024, KOHO opened its creative hub in the Japan Center East Mall after years of community-driven planning. The launch of the coworking space marks the next phase of this vision. With flexible memberships, day passes, and dynamic events, KOHO is redefining what a creative workspace can be.
In a time of shrinking arts budgets and disappearing public support, KOHO’s membership-based model is also a prototype for economic sustainability—offering a path forward for other cultural organizations navigating similar challenges.
“From KOHO’s earliest planning phases, Kultivate Labs has been proud to help build the scaffolding—from fiscal sponsorship to strategic support, teaming up on grant development, and providing staffing infrastructure to move the vision forward. Today, KOHO stands alongside Kapwa Gardens and Balay Kreative as part of a growing ecosystem we’ve helped seed—spaces that reclaim land, reimagine belonging, and show what a thriving AAPI future rooted in cultural and community power can truly look like.”
What You’ll Find at KOHO Creative Hub:
A culturally-rooted coworking environment with flexible desks, high-speed Wi-Fi, and community meeting spaces
A “third space” for creatives who are underserved by traditional offices or isolated working from home
A model for heritage preservation through contemporary artistic and entrepreneurial expression
A gathering space where AAPI and BIPOC creatives build cross-community power and connection
An art exhibition and gallery space
A Pop-up retail space
A community space for town-hall gatherings and rentals
A schedule of events, workshops, and cultural programs open to the public
Join the Movement
KOHO invites creatives, entrepreneurs, organizers, and allies to be part of this essential preservation strategy and community renaissance. Whether you’re looking for a membership, a day pass, or a new way to support Japantown’s ecosystem, KOHO welcomes you.
Become a member and help sustain this vital cultural hub: https://kohosf.org/co-working
Drop in for a day pass to work, connect, and create
Shop and eat local—support Japantown’s historic small businesses
Discover upcoming events that showcase the spirit of creative resistance
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About KOHO Creative Hub
KOHO is a dynamic, multi-disciplinary, cultural, non-profit arts organization for and by AAPI and BIPOC artists & creators, in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown. Led by Japanese American and long-time Japantown community organizer, Susie Kagami. For more information visit www.kohosf.org