Around Town

  Photos by PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Maneki-neko, lucky cats, are sold at many stores like Bun-Kado.
These popular good luck charms are often found in homes and store
windows, as the raised left paw is a charm for more business.

By Dharshani Dharmawardena
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

At the Shabu Shabu House in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo,
people come to eat meat, lots and lots of meat.

With the air permeated by the aroma of boiling meat and the
hubbub of hungry patrons milling around the door, two cultures meld
into one.

A little girl, hidden inside the clouds of her pink ski jacket,
struggles to eat rice with her chopsticks until her grandmother
hands her a fork.

The Shabu Shabu meat, boiled to perfection, disappears quickly
into the child’s mouth.

For many who visit it for the first time and for those who see
it on a daily basis, Little Tokyo offers more than just haute
cuisine. It stands as an essential part of Los Angeles history.

From their early struggles with anti-immigration legislation and
groups to their illegal internment by the U.S. government during
World War II, Japanese Americans have stood staunchly with the city
and contributed to its economic and social growth.

Although San Francisco initially served as the gateway for
Japanese immigrants in the late 1800s, Los Angeles became the most
populous settlement for Japanese Americans after the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake, according to the National Park Service Web
site.

Most of these Issei, or first generation Japanese Americans,
started businesses related to agriculture. These farmers
contributed enormously to state produce growth in the 1910s,
raising grapes and tree fruit in Southern California.

Agriculture-related city trades, such as boarding houses,
hotels, barber houses and restaurants also sprang up all over the
state to cater to male laborers traveling from farm to farm,
according to the NPS Web site.

After WWII, Japanese Americans returned to their former homes to
find their old communities occupied by people who moved in during
the internment.

Japanese Americans faced rebuilding from the beginning. Though
many people had placed their belongings in storage before
internment, looters broke into the warehouses where their property
was stored.

Disillusioned by loss of morale and what they saw as racism in
the West Coast, many Nisei, or second-generation Japanese
Americans, looked elsewhere to restart their lives. Almost a third
of those at internment camps chose to resettle in the East or
Midwest, according to the NPS Web site.

Today, after continued growth after the war, Japanese American
businesses in the area offer various imported goods ranging from
food costing 50 cents to porcelain dolls and tea kettles for
hundreds of dollars.

Stores along First and Third Streets, their shelves lined with
origami folding paper and Japanese lanterns, give many people,
including students, an inexpensive alternative for buying home
decorations.

With Asian culture infiltrating fashion, food and home
decoration, stores around Little Tokyo sell import items to address
the demand.

Other parts of the district attempt to preserve Japanese
American identity through historical exhibits.

The Japanese American National Museum, which opened in 1992,
chronicles the Japanese American experience in the U.S. through
displays of photographs, amateur film footage, vintage clothing,
tools and diaries.

“This is the only museum of national scope which will tell
the story of Japanese Americans,” said George Ariyoshi,
former governor of Hawaii, upon the opening of the JANM.

“The struggles and accomplishments, the hopes and
aspirations, and the culture and traditions will be exposed to all
Americans,” Ariyoshi added.

  The Japanese American National Museum claims a central
location in Little Tokyo, describing the Japanese American
experience.   A donations box and spiritual statues welcome
visitors to the Koyasan Buddhist Temple, nestled in Little Tokyo.
  Octopus tentacles, a Japanese delicacy sold at the local
supermarket beckon the hungry shopper.