Most young kids get a cookie or an extra episode of Bluey if they behave. I got a Suntory CC Lemon soda or extra narutomaki (that white and pink fish cake flower served on top of ramen and udon). Part of my family is Japanese American by marriage, so I naturally grew up on Japanese cuisine. I’m nostalgic for the tastes of taiyaki (fish-shaped cakes with red bean filling), inari sushi (fried, sweet tofu pouches stuffed with sushi rice), and o-zōni (a soup with mochi cakes served on Japanese New Year).
When I was 14, I got to taste those foods in their original setting on a family trip to Japan. After a two-day hike to the peak of Mt. Fuji, we all took a shot of sake and watched the sun rise from the horizon. (If the federal government is reading this, I was actually 21.) We also ate the best tofu I’ve ever had in my life in Kyoto, crepes in Harajuku, and egg-salad sandwiches from 7-Elevens all around the country.
While abroad, I realized how much already felt familiar. First were the packaged snacks and sodas in Japanese grocery stores. They were the same ones I had begged for growing up while grocery shopping at Mitsuwa in the Convoy District. In Japan, I tested my luck with a capsule toy from a gumball machine–style vendor and realized I had done the same thing time and time again in Convoy. The biggest difference, for me, was the language and the side of the road the cars drove on.
In San Diego, you don’t have to cross the Pacific to experience some of that familiarity or discover something new. Our Convoy District—the Asian cultural district in the triangle of the 163, the 805, and the 52—offers both. The 2.5-square-mile neighborhood is a place to speedrun a trip to the other end of the Pacific, shop for alternative medicines, and for some, reconnect with their heritage.
The last time we dedicated a magazine issue to the Convoy District was in 2021. Since then, the neighborhood has undergone a transformation, and so has our global culture. Squid Game broke Netflix viewership records (season 3 got more than 60.1 million views in its first three days), anime went from a niche subculture to a bookshop standard, and you can find boba everywhere now. Even Starbucks, perhaps the most mainstream coffee shop in the world, put boba-inspired sips on the menu.
We looked at the history of Convoy through four lenses—urban planning, self-care and wellness traditions, food, and karaoke. We hit the streets, sang Linkin Park, and asked Convoy chefs which restaurants they visit after they hang up their aprons. Their recommendations may give Convoy regulars some mealtime inspo. We also traced the connection between Jurassic Park and the reason why you have so many K-beauty products in your bathroom drawer.
Also in this issue is an El Niño explainer, broken down in the way a 5-year-old could understand, because let’s be real: Do you actually know what an El Niño is? And because it’s flu season, we check out a new drug out of a San Diego lab that might make it easier for you to stay sniffle-free in the ’ber months. You can’t get it yet—it’s still in a Phase 3 trial—but if approved, it could help protect people who are immunocompromised.
If you’re curious, the コンボイ地区 above means Convoy District in Japanese. While working on this issue, I happened to pop by the district for chores (CarMax and my dentist) and fun (Kumi Sushi Grill’s vegan ramen). Even though I’m a frequent flyer, new places stood out in the long lineup of storefronts on Convoy Street. I hope there’s something on these pages that inspires you to visit. First on my list: trying green tea noodles from Yokohama Yakitori Koubou.
