It began as a simple hunt for space to house his research lab. But Eric Hayashi ended up restoring the Nippon Kan Theatre, a venue with deep history and meaning for Seattle’s Japanese American community. Hayashi was looking for a place to locate Rainier Clinical Research Center, which runs clinical trials and for which he serves as president and CEO.
Last year, he came across the four-story Kobe Park Building in Japantown in Seattle’s Chinatown International District. After purchasing it from Casa Ballena LLC for about $10 million, he transformed the second and third floors into a research center, which will be expanded onto the fourth floor. Last month, Hayashi held the grand reopening for the first-floor space: the 115-year-old Nippon Kan Theatre.
It was a welcome sight for many who attended to see the restored theater that for decades had been a cultural hub for the local Japanese American community — hosting performances, family association meetings and social gatherings — before it sat empty for years following the incarceration of people of Japanese descent during World War II. More recently, it had served as private office space. “I had always heard about the Nippon Kan Theatre, so I looked into it.
Now that I am reading about it, I am uncovering so much of the rich history of the building and I think it means a lot to the Japanese community in Seattle,” said Hayashi, who restored the floors, art, lighting and character to the theater that will now serve as.
