San Francisco is a city rich in history, but it's important to remember that history is still being made every day. On Saturday, in the City's Japantown neighborhood, a legacy business was honored for reaching its 100th anniversary after surviving a lot of challenges, including a World War.

If there is such a thing as a neighborhood institution, in Japantown it would be Soko Hardware. But Philip Ashizawa, who grew up in the store, said the 100th anniversary kind of snuck up on him.

"The daily routine of coming to the store every day just adds up, I guess," he said. "You don't really realize it until you hit that milestone."

His grandparents opened the store in 1925, but in a neighborhood of Japanese immigrants, it also offered merchandise aimed at its local clientele.

"Housewares, woo

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