Change has always come hard and fast in Little Tokyo. As one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, its shape has been changed over the past 140 years by the forces of urban renewal and gentrification, as well as the unjust wartime imprisonment of its residents.
Recent years have seen frequent evictions, closures and relocations among businesses that were once staples of the community. The forced relocation of Suehiro Cafe recently sparked street protests To draw attention to the demise of the institutions that once anchored this historic community.
Citing the need to preserve the identity of one of Los Angeles’s most culturally distinctive neighborhoods, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Wednesday that it will designate Little Tokyo as one of America’s 11 most endangered historic places. Has been named.
“We hope that by addressing neighborhood displacement and gentrification, Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo can get the support and policy protections it needs, so the community can thrive long into the future,” said Carol Quillen, President and CEO. he said. Reliance
Among other sites, Little Tokyo joins country singer Cindy Walker’s Texas home, a lighthouse on the Hudson River, a sugar plantation on the U.S. Virgin Islands and one of the country’s first all-black municipalities, Eatonville, Florida.
The Little Tokyo designation, which comes as the Downtown L.A. neighborhood is about to celebrate its 140th anniversary, is the result of the efforts of Sustainable Little Tokyo, a broad coalition of local interests that includes the Japanese National Museum and the Little Tokyo Community Council.
Kristin Fukushima, managing director of the Little Tokyo Community Council, sees the Trust’s decision as “another step in a long journey to see conservation as a tool for survival, securing our future, and fighting displacement.”
“It doesn’t come with guarantees or funding, but it gives us a national platform to highlight our neighborhoods,” he said.
Since 1988, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has published an annual list of sites – homes, neighborhoods, even the highway – which are sensitive to redefinition and “reflect the complexities and challenges that have always been part of what it means to be American.” Many of these places – often landmarks in ethnic communities – have been neglected or ignored.
Last year’s list includes Philadelphia’s Chinatown, which Fukushima said helped inspire the Little Tokyo application.
In awarding this status, the Trust looks for places of historical significance “that tell the whole American story,” Quillen said, and along with other criteria, offers a solution — “a way toward bringing the site to life.” way so that it becomes a center of activity” want to preserve it.
This year, Quillen said, the trust received 111 letters of intent from 40 states and territories; 28 were advanced to the next round and 11 of them were selected.
In describing the Little Tokyo application, Quillen pointed specifically to the vision that the Sustainable Little Tokyo Coalition has for its future.
“Their initiatives are policy-guided,” he said, and include expanding the city’s legacy business program; giving the community a voice in new development projects; and preserving cultural heritage while serving the present community.
“It’s not a place to be frozen in amber, but trying to create a mini-Tokyo that is vibrant and alive and serving communities in the present through this rich cultural heritage,” he said.
The Sustainable Little Tokyo Coalition hopes the endangered status will draw attention to the fragile character of the neighborhood, which is home to 400 small businesses that are facing development-related pressures in the area. Fifty of them are considered “legacy businesses” – those considered to be at least 20 years old.
Between 2008 and 2023, at least 50 businesses 10 years old or older will close or relocate due to rising rents, according to the Little Tokyo Service Center, which is fighting for greater control over development that could lead to more affordable housing. , will provide cultural center and greenery. Blank space
“If we hadn’t lost so many businesses over the years we would have more legacy businesses,” Fukushima said.
Suehiro Café’s First Street location is one of the most recent casualties — the restaurant is now moving to Fourth and Main streets — but it’s not the only one. Little Tokyo Arts & Gifts has closed, as well as the Family Mart convenience store. Enzen Hardware is moving into a building down the street. Little Tokyo Cosmetics was forced to leave on the eve of its fifth anniversary. Shabu Shabu House – the first restaurant of its kind in America – also closed after 32 years.
The neighborhood was particularly affected by the metro. The Regional Connector Project, with its construction delayed, And transit projects often have an impact on the cost of rental properties.
“Little Tokyo is facing a number of existential threats that are causing neighborhood change, including rising rents and the driving out of small businesses,” said Kristen Hayashi, curator of the Japanese American National Museum.
Hayashi cites among these threats not only the pressures of gentrification and the Regional Connector Project, but also the city’s planning. Replace former LAPD headquartersParker Center.
“Saving Little Tokyo is definitely challenging,” Fukushima said. $2 billion mega-project coming to Arts District On his list of concerns.
“We talk to some members of the community who have been doing this for 50 years and there is burnout,” he said. “They ask, ‘What can we do about it?’ The gears are in motion. How can we stop these widespread impacts that other communities have not been able to do anything about? But the history of Little Tokyo lies in the stubbornness that refuses to give up.”
Hayashi argues that the importance of Little Tokyo to Los Angeles extends beyond its borders.
“Why should we care about Little Tokyo?”. He asked. “In addition to being at the center of the Japanese American community in Los Angeles, it reflects the diversity that has always characterized this city. It represents a time in the city’s history when housing contracts dictated where Japanese Americans could live, and it became their refuge from discrimination, a place that provided them with a taste of home.
While its footprint has become smaller over the years, Hayashi is confident the community will endure.
“This community cares so much,” she said. “We’re trying to future-proof Little Tokyo, preserving its history and making sure people don’t forget the roots of this place.”
