Group Hopes to Make Little Tokyo a Preserve America Neighborhood
The ethnic community is now only partially protected by historic landmark status. APA leaders say all of Little Tokyo needs to be recognized.
In glitzy Los Angeles, Calif., most tourist maps highlight the same cluster of amusement parks and the same stretch of starry sidewalk as worthy places to soak up local culture, but Little Tokyo's Bill Watanabe believes tourists are hungry for more substance.
Over the years, Watanabe, the executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), has seen cultural and historic tourism grow. Now, he wants to put Little Tokyo on the map as a premier place to visit for food, entertainment and history.
"People don't want to see just Disneyland and Universal Studios, they want to visit historic sites too," said Watanabe, who is spearheading the effort to designate Little Tokyo as a Preserve America community.
The Preserve America designation - a White House initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and other federal departments - would give Little Tokyo a listing on the Preserve America Web site, a road sign and perhaps most importantly, eligibility for special federal grants to support historic preservation.
In 2008, nearly $7.5 million is available for Preserve America grants. Watanabe is hoping to use the grant money to better market Little Tokyo. He sees opportunities to improve foot traffic and revitalize cultural tourism.
Today, only a part of Little Tokyo is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. In 1995, the north side of First Street, which includes 13 buildings starting from the old Japanese Union Church (now the East West Players theater) to the old site of the Nishi Hongwanji temple, is registered as a National Historic Landmark. Two plaques located at each end of the street indicate where landmark status begins and ends.
The Preserve America historic designation would encompass the entire neighborhood. Community leaders say it's an important move because Little Tokyo's rich history stretches far beyond its current four city blocks.
The 123-year-old neighborhood is the birthplace of the California sushi roll and the place where Japanese American families returning home after World War II internment were served hot meals at the Far East Café and allowed to pay later - whenever they could. It's also home to Fugetsu-Do, where the fortune cookie was invented and three generations of the Kito family sold fresh manju.
The confectionary store has been a Little Tokyo mainstay since 1903 where current Fugetsu-Do owner Brian Kito still follows the "old-timer" business tradition of standing in front of his store to greet his customers and make sure everything is okay on the street.
"My father used to do the same thing!" said Kito with a laugh. "We look at Little Tokyo from the outside in."
With over 100 years in the community, Kito still hears personal stories from new customers who talk about their grandparents' affinity for the store.
Little Tokyo's history is not just limited to what is documented in books, he said. "It's from the experiences through the eyes of people like me."
Personal histories like these are what community leaders say are in danger of being lost forever.
At its peak, Little Tokyo was home to about 30,000 JAs. Over the years, the neighborhood and its people have endured much hardship from internment to riots and present-day redevelopment threats.
The danger of a community disappearing completely is prevalent, said Watanabe, who cites Los Angeles' Little Italy as an example. Little Italy was once a vibrant part of city life, but has now been completely replaced with another ethnic community - Chinatown.
"There's a plaque there, but no one or building or thing is there to talk about the legacy of the community," he said. "History was wiped out and forgotten."
Watanabe grew up in a San Fernando Valley suburb Northwest of Los Angeles with Japanese-speaking parents who would come to Little Tokyo to shop and dine.
When the first rumblings about historic preservation began over 10 years ago, Watanabe didn't see the point.
"I thought new was good. Why keep dirty, old buildings?"
He has since come 180 degrees.
"Mainstream America assumes JAs just got here," said Watanabe, who pointed out that many are surprised that Little Tokyo is over 100 years old.
The Preserve America neighborhood designation is especially important in light of the 2006 sale of Little Tokyo's New Otani Hotel and Weller Court to 3D Investments, a private Beverly Hills, Calif.-based real estate developer. In 2006, 3D also purchased two hotels in San Francisco's Japantown galvanizing the local JA community to demand accountability for preservation.
Many community members are willing to put up an initial fight, but the passion does not sustain, said Kito.
"As generations go on, people forget about the hardship that Little Tokyo has endured, so they don't appreciate it as much until it's being threatened. When it's being threatened, it's being threatened for a reason ... because it's vulnerable," said Kito, who is sponsoring a March 30 showing of Soji Kashiwagi's musical play "Nihonmachi: The Place to Be" for the Little Tokyo community.
The Preserve America community status won't protect Little Tokyo from future development, but it's a step in the right direction to send a clear message that there is history and heritage to maintain, said Watanabe.
LTSC has completed the Preserve America application on behalf of the Little Tokyo Community Council, who will submit it for the March deadline. The application is waiting for signatures from Councilwoman Jan Perry and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Perry's office is drafting a letter of support for inclusion in the application, according to her spokesperson.
Currently, there are 15 Preserve America communities in California, but no APA ethnic communities. If Little Tokyo wins this distinction, it may be among the first - Los Angeles' Chinatown is also applying for the historic community designation.
"The community is changing, but we can't disregard the importance of a place like Little Tokyo," said Craig Ishii, JACL Pacific Southwest regional director. "It's hard to see the historical roots amongst the new condos and apartments but this physical community was the heart of the Japanese American community for decades. Historic recognition of the community is simply another way of keeping that history and that heart alive."
Print This Article-
Email This Article