Japan Center Garage

I have never been able to find street parking in Japantown so I always park in this garage. The cheapest times to park here are before noon and after three for $1 or $2 an hour. From noon to three, it's $4 per hour. If you want to spend a full day, the early bird parking is a pretty great deal for $13 before 8:30 am.

It's always been really easy finding parking in this garage. Make sure to remember your parking space number and bring your ticket with you. After you pay for parking at one of the machines, you have 15 minutes to leave the garage so it's good to remember where you parked. I usually only stay 1 or 2 hours to go shopping and grab a crepe in Japantown so the most I've paid is $4. Validated parking applies to some merchants and the full list can be found at http://sfjapantown.org/parking/.

My go to parking when visiting japantown. Location cant be beaten, u walk up stairs & Japan town center & all the restaurants are there. Weekends this place is packed, even on a Tuesday it was 90% capacity.

The spots are tight, whenever i pull into the spots against the wall the side mirror usually scrapped the side column.

This is a good place to park for Japan town. Everything is automated and easy to use. I can't really say much more than that. It's not that expensive for a parking garage in the city.

Best place to park when shopping, dining in Japantown! Two elevator bays. Both lead directly into the Japan Center Mall, no need to go outside. Wonderful place to go in inclement weather. The parking fee is significantly lower than the downtown garages. Cashiers are no longer available, but there are pay machines at the pedestrian entrances/exits and you can use a credit card at the auto exit. The Garage is governed by a citizen board that is dedicated to improving the visitor experience. Many new shops, restaurants in Japantown! Park in the affordable Japan Center Garage to check these out!

Forget circling around Japantown to find street parking, just stop by Japan Center garage which is conveniently located by /beneath the Japan center. Super easy to access on Geary Blvd. Parking is about $2/hr which isn't too bad. Pay by machines in the front of the garage.

A lesson learned pre-covid in dining and shopping in this neighborhood, timing is everything.

I started dining in Japantown more about three years ago, mostly for lunch. Knowing the lunch rush in those days, I usually came late mornings in shopping at the local markets before grabbing a bite for lunch. I would usually find parking along Post Street, feed the meter, and do the above. A couple years ago, SFMTA instituted a peak and non-peak time rate tier system with prime hours being more costly than non-peak. I did the math and learned that it was cheaper parking in this garage than parking on the streets. The ironic thing is that this is a City run lot too. Plus, in the last couple years, car break-ins, vandalism, and other crime issues made it a no-brainer to park in this secure two-level parking structure. There are pay stations on both levels though the ones downstairs are sometimes out of order. I suggest paying at the ground level machines before going to your vehicle downstairs, just in case.

Some of the local businesses like Nijiya Market will offer validation parking (discounted) if you purchase over $30.00. Check with the other restaurants or businesses whether they are in the program.

Highly recommend using this garage especially for visitors from out of the area who may have luggage or tempting items in the cab of their cars. Safe is better than sorry.

*** Note, the garage was closed when I drove by yesterday, likely due to repairs. I believe they tentatively plan to reopen on Friday 1/7/22.

***** Double update - Sign now reads, Hopefully reopening Monday 1/10/22.

Convenient parking option in Japantown [San Francisco]

Hubby always prefers parking on side streets in Japantown (if he can find one). We wanted to dine in Japantown and this time he wasn't able to find an open spot so we did the parking garage thing. We drove inside and it produced a ticket complete with our car license plate number. Bring ticket with you so you can pay at a pay station prior to exiting the garage but when we left it also allowed to pay at the exit if you forgot to bring ticket with you.

There are two parking garages in Japantown. The main garage is on Geary Blvd and the other on Fillmore Annex. We used the one on Fillmore which is on the west of Japantown (located between Geary and Post Streets). It is closest parking area to the restaurant where we wanted to dine at Udon Mugizo. It's very convenient and the rates are decent and affordable. We arrived a little before 6:00p (3:00p to 6:00p is $3/hr) but 6:00p to midnight is $2/hr) our total was $5 for parking (missed that cut off at 6:00p (would've been $1 cheaper). Still not bad at all!

All charges are in one hour increments.

Review #2447

An absolute NIGHTMARE. I applied for a monthly parking pass in April 2022, never heard back, paid for daily early bird parking. The machines over charged me several times for the regular rate, despite clearly on my ticket showing that I arrived during the appropriate time. The machines were constantly down, accepting cash only. I almost got stuck once because I didn't have cash.

Emailed again in May to get a pass, they took my credit card info and told me it would start in June. So I paid daily parking all of May as well.

June comes, use my pass. I find out June 20th that a parking spot in my building opened up so I didn't have to walk half a mile up hill to work anymore. I notify the manager via email that I am canceling my parking pass, he tells me the soonest the can cancel it is end of July. As per contract since I canceled after the 8th of the month, I did have to pay for the month of July-annoying but I did agree to that contract.

August comes and I'm charged again. Oops, honest mistake on their end. I emailed reminding the manager I cancelled in June, thus should not be charged and disputed the charge with my bank.

September comes and again I am charged. I dispute the charge and send the manager another email. He said since I didn't confirm the July cancellation I'm still getting charged-I emailed in August reminding him of the cancellation so that is no excuse for charging me again in September.

October-CHARGED AGAIN. I emailed again telling them to stop charging me. The manager emailed back about how he spoke to accounting about my payments rejecting and to send him my bank statements. I don't see why he need to see my banks statements, I canceled my parking pass months ago, pretty straightforward.

November comes and surprise, charged again! Oh and on top of charging me parking for FOUR MONTHS of parking I am not contractually obligated to pay because I did give notice, they are tacking on late fees. Another email to the manager to stop charging me, I'm not giving him my bank statements, and I will continue disputing each charge.

December comes, I'm not charged. Hallelujah, this nightmare has come to an end! Or so I thought. I got a notice today for payment due in January.

This business is FRAUDULENTLY charging me. I don't see how they can deny that with numerous emails over months about cancelling and me parking there since June!

I love everything about Japan Center: the shops, the book store, the restaurants. It makes you feel like you are right there in the heart of Japan. During the festivals are always a great pleasure! When you are in San Francisco, this is the place to be!

This garage is very accessible on both Geary & Post St. Prices are definitely reasonable for the area and prefer it versus the meter street parking. Also, they have some sort of small business detailing situation on the bottom level that I was quite interested in. We weee there maybe 2hrs and only paid $6 parking. Prices vary for different times of the day so check it out.

I'm always am able to find a parking spot and it's easy to check out with the tapping credit card feature. The only downsize is the cost, but this is San Francisco. Three hours was $14 which by other lot standards is a good deal.