Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Little Tokyo (Japanese: リトル・トーキョー), also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, is an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America.[4] It is the largest and most populous of only three official Japantowns in the United States, all of which are in California (the other two are Japantown, San Francisco and Japantown, San Jose). Founded around the beginning of the 20th century, the area, sometimes called Lil' Tokyo, J-Town, Shō-Tōkyō (小東京), is the cultural center for Japanese Americans in Southern California. It was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995.[3]
"Little Tokyo" redirects here. For other uses, see Little Tokyo (disambiguation).Location
History[edit]
Origins: 1880s[edit]
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 played a pivotal role in the first large wave of Japanese Immigration to the United States as the Japanese were heavily recruited to serve as 'cheap labor' in place of the now excluded Chinese Laborers.[5] One of the people influenced by this first wave of Japanese Immigration was Hamanosuke Shigeta, a Japanese Seaman, who settled in southeast Los Angeles, an area which would eventually become "Little Tokyo".[6] There Shigeta established the first Japanese-owned business in LA, Kame Restaurant, along the East First Street. Attracted by the restaurant and nearby demands for labor, other Japanese immigrant men followed suite as they settled along East First Street in nearby boarding houses.[7] To house the wave of new immigrants coming to the Little Tokyo area, early Immigrants also opened more boarding houses. The first Japanese boarding house in Los Angeles was established by Sanjuro Mizuno who opened the Santa Fe Boarding House in 1898 to cater to Japanese laborers.[8]
Initial Development: Late 1890s to 1930s[edit]
By the early 1900s the Japanese population in the "Little Tokyo" Area had reached a number of around 3000. This Japanese population in the nearby area also jumped to 10000 following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake which convinced many Japanese to move from San Francisco to Los Angeles.[7] In 1907, The Gentleman's Agreement was signed between Japan and the United States in which Japan voluntarily restricted the emigration of Japanese Laborers, allowing only families of current residents to immigrate, in exchange for the United States to ensure no discrimination against the Japanese people in the US.[9] The implementation of the agreement led to an influx of women who joined family or husbands as new brides in the "Little Tokyo" area. As a result, "Little Tokyo" saw a growth in community and establishment of a commercial district.[7] By 1908, around 90 Japanese-run boarding houses could be found throughout Los Angeles.[8]
The area is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District.[48]
Los Angeles Public Library operates the Little Tokyo Branch.
The main office of the Asahi Gakuen, a part-time Japanese school, is in room 308 on the third floor of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC, 日米文化会館 Nichibei Bunka Kaikan) building,[49] located in Little Tokyo.[50]
In popular culture[edit]
The district appears in the films Showdown in Little Tokyo, Beverly Hills Ninja and The Crimson Kimono.[55] When the Japanese anime series Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ) was localized in English as Samurai Pizza Cats, the series' main setting "Edoropolis" was renamed "Little Tokyo".