Delayed due to Covid, the recreation facility finally holds a public celebration to welcome the community.
The Paul I. Terasaki Budokan is officially open to the public following a two-day grand-opening celebration hosted by the Little Tokyo Service Center that was held at the recreation facility in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo on March 11 and 12.
Bright, sunny skies welcomed the public to celebrate decades of community fundraising and perseverance to see the center’s completion; the Budokan has been operating since spring 2020, but its official grand opening was postponed due to the pandemic.
Among the many guest performers were Matsubayashi Karate Dojo, who are pictured with U.S. Olympian Sakura Kokumai (right). (Photo: Susan Yokoyama)
At the heart of the 51,000-square-foot multipurpose sports facility and community center, located at 249 S. Los Angeles St., is a main floor featuring an Olympic-sized basketball court, as well as meeting room spaces, underground parking, a second-story terrace and an outdoor events area with a stage.
Marking the grand-opening celebration with an official proclamation are (from left) Terasaki Budokan Executive Director Ryan Lee, LTSC Executive Director Erich Nakano and California Assemblymembers Miguel Santiago and Al Muratsuchi. (Photo: Susan Yokoyama)
Speakers at the grand celebration included Kevin de Leon, Los Angeles City Councilmember, 14th District; Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi; LTSC Executive Director Erich Nakano; Keith Terasaki of the Terasaki Family Foundation (the foundation donated $3.5 million to complete the building, named after Keith’s father, Paul I. Terasaki, a doctor and philanthropist who invented tissue-typing technology that made organ transplants possible); Jan Perry, former Los Angeles city council member, as well as guests Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West and U.S. Olympian Sakura Kokumai, who competed in karate at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Mike Murase, the LTSC’s director of service programs and Budokan Capital Campaign director, told the P.C. in a 2020 interview that he envisions the Budokan as a special experience for all generations.
“To come to Little Tokyo to play basketball in that special place and then walk out into the community, go out to the restaurants, go to JANM and the JACCC and make some memories with their friends and their families as they grow up — that’s what we want to see. . . . We want generations of JA kids and other kids to experience that feeling,” he said.
Ryan Lee, executive director of the Terasaki Budokan, served as master of ceremonies of the opening celebration and best captured the spirit of the long-awaited community center’s opening: “It’s about time.”
