General Information
Located:
Bounded on the west by Los Angeles Street,
on the east by Alameda Street,
on the south by 3rd Street,
and on the north by First Street.
Type: Japanese American district
Architect: Edgar Cline, Et al.
Built/Founded: 1942
Map It
Little Tokyo, also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, is an ethnic Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and one of only three official Japantowns in the United States. This area is sometimes referred to as Lil' Tokyo, J-Town, 小東京 (Shō-tōkyō). In 1995, Little Tokyo was declared a National Historic Landmark District.
History
In 1886, an ex-seaman from Japan, Charles Kame, opened a Japanese restaurant at 340 East First Street. By the turn of the century, a small Issei (immigrants from Japan) community was formed around San Pedro and First Streets. This area became known as Little Tokyo.
In 1903, Henry Huntington recruited 2000 Issei in northern California to lay tracks for the Pacific Electric Railway. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, thousands more fled the heightened tensions and settled in Little Tokyo. The Issei succeeded in fishing, agriculture, wholesale produce and retailing. They were denied citizenship by federal law and not allowed to own property.
The Nisei (children of Japanese immigrants) were American citizens by birth. They could own property and vote in elections. As the Japanese Americans began to leave downtown to neighboring cities, community leaders formed the first Nisei Week to maintaining commercial and cultural links.
After the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The Order gave the United States Army authority to force more than 110,000 Nikkei (people of Japanese ancestry) living on the west coast to live in concentration camps. Not all Nisei were sent to camps, a few were secretly recruited to be translators for the Military Itelligence Service. After the war, because of lack of housing in Little Tokyo, Japanese Americans soldiers and camp internees moved to the suburbs of Los Angeles. The population continued to shrink in the early 1950s when Parker Center was built. In order to built Parker Center, housing for 1000 people and one-fourth of the district's commercial businesses were destroyed.
Beginning in 1969, committees were formed and the Little Tokyo Redevelopment Project was established to prevent the Little Tokyo be eradicated. While there has been construction from the 1970s until today, the character of Little Tokyo has been maintained by the 15 structures making up the Little Tokyo Historic District. Little Tokyo has resisted eradication and continues as a tourist attraction, community center, and home to Japanese American senior citizens and others.
Cultural Attractions & Monuments
Cultural attractions in Little Tokyo include Japanese American National Museum, the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, the Geffen Contemporary Museum, and the East West Players theater. There are public sculptures such as the monument to Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, a Japanese American from Hawai'i who was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded during takeoff in 1986 and Japanese American National War Memorial Court. There are two public Japanese gardens in Little Tokyo.
The James Irvine Garden (Garden of the Clear Stream) is a triangular are of 8,500 square feet next to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. The garden was completed in December 1979 and was designed by Takeo Uesugi. In 1981, the First Lady Nancy Reagan in a ceromony at the White House presented prestigious National landscape Award of Nurseymen. This is the highest and oldest national honor such a project can receive in the field of environmental improvement and community beautification.
There is a 170-foot stream which winds through the garden. The beginning of the stream is a waterfall which represents the struggle fo the immigrant Issei generation against harsh economic realities and prejudices. In the middle cascades, the stream divides, this represents the conflict experienced by the Nisei. The stream gradually becomes a serene pond. The pond symbolizes the hope for a peaceful world for the Sansei and future generations.
On the other side of the the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is the National Japanese American Verterans Memorial Court. The Memorial Court is dedicated to those Americans who have fought and died in conflicts of the United States of America and most are of Japanese anchestry.
The other public Japanese Garden in Little Tokyo is a rooftop garden in the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens, formally known as the New Otani Hotel.
Nisei Week Festival
The Nisei Week Festival began in 1934 by the Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans)community leaders as a way of maintaining commercial and cultural links between Little Tokyo and the increasingly dispersed Japanese American community. The first festival included poster and essay contests, radio broadcasts, a fashion show, various cultural exhibits and demonstrations and an ondo parade. In 1935 a queen pageant was added. The festival was to continue for only seven years before the start of World War II and the incarceration of Japanese Americans in internment camps within the nation's interior. In 1945, the Japanese Americans began to return to Los Angeles, but the festival did not restart until 1949.
Today the Nisei Week is an annual celebration and is held every August which actually last two weeks. The festival includes a large parade, a pageant, athletic events, exhibits of Japanese art and culture, a taiko drum festival, the Japanese Festival Street Faire and other events. Some of the events are sumo match, martial arts, tea ceremony, ikebana and odori dancing. In addition to cultural exhibits and dynamic cultural entertainment is delicious Japanese food.
Events such as the reenactment of the moment when Japanese samurai pledged their lives, then marched to battle being done by men and women in 15th and 16th century warrior armor topped with giant horns.
Place mouse over picture for black & white version
One of the many sporting events is Sumo Westling. This sumo westling match was held with a sumo westler and an audience member. Winner in the middle.
This taiko drum was performance one of many performances held thoughout the festival. In Japanese, the word taiko literally translates as “big drum” or “fat drum”.
To view photo gallery for Little Tokyo, click here.
Visitors Info
This is a major tourist attraction that has lush Japanese gardens, world-class museum, shopping, gift shops and over 30 restaurants.
Photo Tips
Many things to photograph in Little Tokyo, but the best time to go to Little Tokyo is during the Nisei Festival. The Japanese Gardens are green year around, but as you would expect the best time to go is during the spring.
Additional Links
References
1. ^ a b c d e "JACCC Outdoor Spaces". http://www.jaccc.org/outdoor.htm. Retrieved on 2009-09-04.
2. ^ a b "Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California". wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tokyo,_Los_Angeles,_California. Retrieved on 2009-09-04.
2. ^ a b "Little Tokyo". http://www.publicartinla.com/Downtown/Little_Tokyo/little_tokyo.html. Retrieved on 2009-09-04.
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