Japanese Businesses Fight to Stay as Metro Stop Transforms LA’s Little Tokyo
As legacy restaurants and shops close due to rent hikes, activists fight to keep one of the last Japantowns in the US alive.
A downtown view of Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo district, where a mural of Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was recently completed.
Photographer: Kirby Lee/Getty Images North AmericaLegacy Japanese businesses selling everything from tonkatsu to kimonos are quickly disappearing from the once-vibrant streets of Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, galvanizing the community in a fight to preserve the character of the historic neighborhood.
The LA hub is one of just three historic Japantowns remaining in the US, according to the Little Tokyo Community Council. With about 1.6 million Japanese people in the US, the community is working hard to sustain the remnants of its culture.