[Photo from sanfrancisco.travel]

Japantown is a real treat for art and design lovers. With unique imported finds at great prices, happy animal faces everywhere, and a singing toilet that offers polite greetings in the New People building, I find myself seeking refuge there at least once a week. For the Instagramer in me, the lighting at the Japan Center mall is phenomenal. Visit it in the late afternoon and the place simply glows, making the minimal 1960s architecture and neo-traditional Japanese motifs pop. It’s pure eye candy on so many levels.

Take a day trip in Japantown, which runs along Post Street between Laguna and Fillmore Streets. You can start with a vegan donut and green matcha at New People, browse the stunning design books at Kinokuniya Bookstore inside the Japan Center mall, and pick up a new meat cleaver at Soko Hardware. There is so much to see and explore.