The central bayfront area was settled in 1913 by first-generation immigrants from Japan, who started businesses in Waiākea and named the area Shinmachi ("New Town"). Shinmachi was wiped out by the tsunami waves resulting from the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake on April 1, 1946; wave heights were estimated at . Residents returned and rebuilt, only to have Shinmachi destroyed again by another tsunami on May 23, 1960, following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. A documentary film about Shinmachi was broadcast on local PBS stations in April 2021.