Background of Little Tokyo“Ethnic enclaves,” such as Chinatown, Highland Park and Little Tokyo, have been a part of the diverse and multicultural history of Los Angeles from its inception. The history of these communities in many cases follows the development and history of Los Angeles. Little Tokyo in particular remains an active commercial, social, cultural, religious and historical community center with a history of 120 years in Los Angeles. Little Tokyo is located east of the financial district and civic center of Downtown Los Angeles.
The history of Little Tokyo began in 1885 when a seaman from Japan, Hamanosuke Shigeta, opened up a restaurant on Jackson Street. By 1900, several businesses had been established, and the first generation Japanese American, issei, community was booming around First and San Pedro Streets. In 1905, the area began being called Little Tokyo although a number of ethnic and religious groups continued to live and work there. During this period, Little Tokyo’s population expanded as issei came to Los Angeles searching for jobs and housing. Many migrated from San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, and a constant flow of laborers came from Japan until the 1908 Gentleman’s Agreement prohibited further immigration of laborers. The peak of Japanese immigration took place in 1907 when over 30,000 Japanese came to the United States.
Additional federal state laws prohibited the issei from citizenship and owning property, and subjected them to employment and housing discrimination. Between 1914 and 1924, the peak of anti-Japanese sentiment in that era, Japanese Americans created Little Tokyo as a means to survive within the restrictions of a segregated society. The Immigration Act of 1924 completely halted further immigration from Japan, however, Little Tokyo continued to develop into a thriving community until the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, racial prejudice against Japanese Americans led to the signing of Executive Order 9066, which called for the removal of Japanese Americans from the west coast into concentration camps. The mass internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II decimated Japanese communities, including Little Tokyo.
After the war, many Japanese Americans returned to a geographically smaller Little Tokyo. By the 1960s, the physical environment and the population density in and around Little Tokyo had drastically changed compared to the 1920s and 1930s. The dramatic population decline is attributed to the rapid post-war dispersal of Japanese Americans.
The post-war years guided in the age of urban renewal, and opened the door to Japanese corporate capital. The Housing Act of 1949 enabled the urban renewal campaign to revitalize “blighted” central city areas and led to the establishment of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which was designated as the local planning agency to launch an urban redevelopment plan for the central city. In 1970, a landmark event for Little Tokyo took place as the seven-block, sixty-seven acre core of Little Tokyo was officially designated as the Little Tokyo Redevelopment Project Area under the supervision of the CRA. This marked a critical turning point in Little Tokyo, as with the assistance of the CRA, Little Tokyo became the entry point for Japanese corporations into Southern California, which led to the further changing of the social, political, physical and economic environment in Little Tokyo.
Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, presently situated adjacent to the civic center and Skid Row district of Downtown Los Angeles, is generally bounded by Temple, Fourth, Alameda and Los Angeles Streets, was one of the first and largest Japanese American urban communities to form in the United States. Over the last 100 years, its physical boundaries, land uses and human activities have drastically changed. However, it has continued to serve as a center and symbol for the Japanese American community, and a reflection of the changing shape and nature of the community around it. Moreover, although it has undergone change following wartime internment, urban renewal and redevelopment, Little Tokyo continues to be the center for Japanese American culture and community as well as history.