Little Tokyo is a lively and colourful Japanese-inspired neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles. It is dominated by Japanese shops and restaurants that give atmosphere and character to the area.
I stopped off here for a few days on a return trip from Costa Rica to Australia and stayed at the stunningly efficient Miyako Hotel right in the centre of Little Tokyo.
With roots dating to the 1880s, Little Tokyo is a major cultural and civic centre for Japanese Americans living in Southern California. Little Tokyo is an area of about five city blocks, generally 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 1st Street. However, it includes one block north of 1st Street and west of Alameda Street.
Little Tokyo is the largest and most populous of only three official 'Japantowns' in the United States, all of which are in California with the other two being in San Francisco and San Jose. Little Tokyo is the home of the annual Nisei Week festival, and was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995. Here are a few things to see and do in the district:
The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) sits at the entrance to Little Tokyo. Its mission is to promote appreciation and understanding of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the experiences of Japanese Americans through exhibitions, public programs, an award-winning museum store and a resource centre. These experiences are presented as an integral component of US history.
Incorporated in 1985 through the combined efforts of a band of Japanese American World War II veterans and a group of Little Tokyo businessmen, JANM progressed from a small non-profit to a national organisation that raised almost $60 million to renovate a historic former Buddhist temple building in 1992 and to construct an adjacent modern Pavilion in 1999.
An official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, JANM was the recipient in 2010 of the National Medal for Museum and Library Services, America's highest honour for museums.
Located adjacent to JANM, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (previously The Temporary Contemporary) opened in 1983 as a satellite location of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Formerly a police car warehouse, the 40,000 square-foot space was renovated by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, who also designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall and other world-famous buildings.
After viewing The Geffen, stop by the nearby Go For Broke Monument, the first memorial of its kind on the US mainland. The 40-foot black granite circle is engraved with more than 16,000 names of Japanese American soldiers and officers who served overseas during World War II.
Located on 1st Street a half block from JANM, Far Bar features a lively main bar with numerous flatscreens, dozens of craft beers on tap, and Asian-influenced cocktails and pub fare. A second bar is discreetly located next to the bar's patio off 1st Street, featuring a massive list of hundreds of bourbons, single malts and Japanese whiskies. Far Bar hosts a popular daily happy hour (Tuesday-Friday from 3-7pm, Sunday-Monday 3pm to close) that offers great discounts on beer, wine, sake, cocktails and bar snacks.
Little Tokyo is perfect for visitors looking for somewhere a little different in downtown LA, and it is within walking distance of Los Angeles City Hall (below).
