Two outposts of an old-world conflict — where Chinese and Japanese immigrants rarely spoke to one another, while their American-born children often played kick the can in the streets together.
-- Narrator (The Panama Hotel (1986))

Importance: The Panama Hotel is a symbol of the division of Japantown and Chinatown because it sits on the dividing line between these two places. Though the immigrants from these two different countries held grudges against one another, the first born generations of these immigrants had let go of their parents’ prejudices. As young children, they played together.

The new hotel owner explained that in the basement she had discovered the belongings of thirty-seven Japanese families who she presumed had been persecuted and taken away. Their belongings had been hidden and never recovered — a time capsule from the war years.
-- Narrator (The Panama Hotel (1986))

Importance: Henry is caught up in the excitement brought about by the announcement made at the Panama Hotel that belongings of Japanese people...