Japantown, spanning the area north of Geary Expressway between Fillmore and Laguna Streets, is dominated by the three-block-long Japan Center and its orderly collection of theaters, bars, shops and restaurants. The neighborhood's history, though, is a little more gritty.

Around 1860 a wave of Japanese immigrants arrived in San Francisco, and many settled in the Western Addition (west of the current Japantown) after the earthquake of 1906. By the 1930s a full-fledged community had taken hold, with Japanese-owned shops, markets, meeting halls and restaurants, as well as Buddhist and Shinto temples.

World War II came, and many of Japantown's residents — including second- and third- generation Americans — were forced into "relocation camps." Today's Japanese American population, at 12,000, is smaller than in the city's heyday, but still enriches the cultural mix of San Francisco.

At the heart of Japantown, which locals call "J-Town," is the Japan Center (Post St. between Fillmore and Laguna Sts.). Midway in the Center is the Webster Bridge, inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Rome; and also worth a look is the Konko Kyo Temple on Bush St., where visitors place food and flowers on its wooden altar.

The modern, dazzlingly white church on Gough St. at Geary is St. Mary's Cathedral (1111 Gough St.), affectionately known as Our Lady of the Maytag for its resemblance to the inside of a washing machine. Designed in the Italian travertine style by Roman architect Pierre Nervi, it was dedicated in 1971 at a cost of $7 million. Inside the cathedral, four huge stained-glass windows cross in the massive dome and are colored to represent the four elements — water, to the north; the sun, to the south; fire, at the red west windows; and green to the east, representing earth. At the Kabuki Springs and Spa (1750 Geary Blvd.), soft bamboo flute music plays as you soak your troubles away in soothingly Zen surroundings. After a session of shiatsu, Japan's 5,000-year-old pressure point massage, you'll be as serene as the Buddha near the Kabuki's front door.

One block west of the Springs, on the opposite side of Geary, is the legendary Fillmore Auditorium, founded in 1965 but still a rock and roll hot spot (1805 Geary Blvd.).

A walking tour of Japantown will take around an hour, not including time spent poring over the unique merchandise in its colorful shops: silk embroidered kimonos, whimsically painted tea cups, Japanese vegetable seeds for planting, jewelry and traditional items such as hand-painted silk scrolls.

Afterward, relax in one of the neighborhood's 40-odd restaurants, serving Japanese, Chinese or Korean food.

Each April Japantown celebrates the Cherry Blossom Festival with a parade, taiko drumming and martial arts demonstrations.