Japan Center, Architectural complex in Japantown, San Francisco, United States

Japan Center is a multi-building complex in Japantown featuring retail spaces, restaurants, and entertainment venues arranged along Post and Geary Streets. The structure connects its three sections together and provides direct access from Peace Plaza and Fillmore Street.

The complex opened in March 1968 as the Japanese Cultural and Trade Center, the first major project led by redevelopment director M. Justin Herman. It was developed by National-Braemar, joined in 1962 by Kintetsu Enterprises, and built from 1965 on 108-acre Western Addition Project Area A-1, where 8,000 residents had been displaced. Mayor Joseph Alioto dedicated it; it was renamed Japan Center by 1970.

The mall's interiors were designed by Takenaka & Associates of Osaka to evoke narrow Japanese streets, with shop facades carrying decorative glazed tile roofs and pillars. The Fuki-ya restaurant, run by Junko and Richard K. Diran, is described as the first Robatayaki restaurant in the United States. The Peace Pagoda stands on the site, and Peace Plaza was rededicated by Mayor Willie Brown in 2003.

The complex spans five acres between Geary, Post, Fillmore and Laguna, split into three mall buildings: Kinokuniya Mall, Japan Center West and Japan Center East. Peace Plaza, with the Peace Pagoda, sits between the west and east buildings. Enter from Post Street for the Kinokuniya building or from Peace Plaza for the central malls.

The Peace Pagoda on the site was designed by Japanese architect Yoshirō Taniguchi; a 2000 update by Kenji Murokami removed a large covered walkway on the north side linking Japan Center West and East. The plaza was rededicated by Mayor Willie Brown in 2003.