Little Tokyo Marketplace

 

Marukai Market in Little Tokyo...what's not to love? A large multi-ethnic Asian market in the heart ofLittle Tokyo that has everything you could possibly need to make yummy Japanese cuisine. Good

Koyasan Buddhist Temple

An active religious gathering place in Little Tokyo, the Buddhist temple serves as both community center and cultural ambassador. The Temple is a relic of the first days of Little Tokyo, and was left virtually untouched by the 1960s redevelopment of the area.

Little Tokyo’s Aoyama Tree designated a monument

The 60-foot tall Moreton Bay Fig symbolizes the founding of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in downtown Los Angeles in 1920.

The Frying Fish- Revolving Sushi Bar

  

The Frying Fish, America's first kaiten-sushi restaurant, is also one of the first businesses established in the Little Tokyo shopping mall complex. It's owners, the Akimotos, have a long history with the neighborhood. Mr. Akimoto opened the restaurant in order to provide his Issei wife with a comfortable Japanese workplace. However, with recent changes in the cultural makeup of the neighborhood, Mr. Akimoto says that he is unsure about the future.

Museum of Contemporary Art: MOCA

Founded in 1979, MOCA is the only museum in Los Angeles devoted exclusively to contemporary art. It is committed to the collection, presentation, and interpretation of work produced since 1940 in all media, and to preserving that work for future generations. In a remarkably short time, MOCA has developed one of the nation's most renowned permanent collections. Now numbering over 5,000 works and steadily growing, this invaluable cultural resource provides extensive opportunities for education and enjoyment to thousands of national and international visitors. Today the museum is housed in three unique facilities: MOCA Grand Avenue, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and MOCA Pacific Design Center. 

Japanese American National Museum

The Japanese American National Museum opened its doors in 1992. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. The museum is home to a moving image archive, which contains over 100,000 feet (30,000 m) of 16 mm and 8 mm home movies of Japanese Americans from the 1920s to the 1950s. The museum also contains artifacts, textiles, art, photographs, and oral histories of Japanese Americans.

The museum contains over 130 years of Japanese American history, dating back to the first Issei generation. In 1997, the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center was established by Robert A. Nakamura and Karen L. Ishizuka, to develop new ways to document, preserve and make known the experiene of Americans of Japanese Ancestry. In 1999, the Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center (HNRC) was established to provide access to the museum's information and resources, both at the facility and online, and documents both the life and culture of the Japanese Americans.

Any Izakaya

   

An izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are popular, casual places for after-work drinking. The name "izakaya" is a compound word consisting of "i" (to sit) and "sakaya" (sake shop), showing that izakaya originate from sake shops that allowed customers to sit at the premises to drink.^[1] Izakaya are sometimes called akachōchin (red lantern) in daily conversation, because these paper lanterns are traditionally found in front of an izakaya.

Weller Court- Multi level Restaurants

The Weller Court shopping mall has several restaurants, karaoke clubs, and a Bubble Tea cafe. For tourists visiting from Japan, there are a number of shops specializing in expensive name brandproducts such as Coach handbags. There is also a large bookstore, Kinokuniya, that is part of a well-known Japanese chain. They have a large selection of Japanese-language books, magazines, music CDs, manga, and anime, as well as a selection of English-language books on Japanese subjects and translated manga and anime.

Rafu Bussan

Located at the 2nd street in front of Japanese Village Plaza.

  

Rafu Bussan triggers the curiosity and desire to explore and take a glimpse into the culture and the beauty of Japan. For those who have not known about the store before, and also for the loyal patrons who have shopped there for many years, like Darrel - the American guy I talked about, Rafu Bussan reminds you of what you have seen, read, or heard about Japan: Ikebana, Ukiyo-e, Samurai,Chadō (Japanese tea ceremony), and many more. Not only is there a collection of traditional artwork, there are also gift items showcased in the store that reflect the latest trends and tastes in Japan.

SK Uyeda Department Store

One of the many wonderful stores in Little Tokyo, S. K. Uyeda has a colorful collection of kimonos and robes in children's and adult sizes, as well as T-shirts and slippers. The store is full of wonderful fabrics and linens imported from Japan, and this is the place to buy oversize pillows and futons. Service is friendly, although some of the sales clerks speak limited English. Prices vary; the better kimonos can be expensive.

Anzen Hardware

    

Little Tokyo's Anzen Hardware--a dusty, jam-packed store with everything from saws and scythes to split-toed Tabi boots--isn't the first place you'd think of finding kitchenware. But it's a chef's haven for tools of the trade. Since 1946, this idiosyncratic store has been known for its impressive selection of Japanese knives from high-end artisans like Sakai Takayuki, Aritsugu and Masamoto. Owner Norihiko Takatani sells the famous blades to anyone who has high-level knife skills, including chefs from Spago, Melisse, Campanile and a slew of sushi restaurants.

Bunka-do

    

Bunkado means "house of culture" in Japanese.  It opened in 1945 and is located in the heart of historic Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, at the site of the first Japanese owned business in Los Angeles (Kame Restaurant, 1890's). Bunkado was founded by artist Tokio Ueyama and his beloved wife Suye. 

Tokyo Japanese Outlet - Japanese Village Plaza

 

Every day, our customers enjoy browsing the store because they find new and amazing items.  You will continually be surprised to find interesting items to amaze you, your friends and family.   You must visit the stores to appreciate the diverse items available for browsing and purchase.  Because there are over 4000 items in the JLS and JO stores, you may need more than a day to view all the interesting items.

Marukai Market

Marukai Market is located at Weller Court.

    

 MARUKAI CORPORATION U.S.A. was founded in 1965 by MARUKAI CORPORATION, INC. (Head Quarter Osaka, Japan). Based in Los Angeles and Hawaii, the business began as an importer for Japanese food, household items, furniture, health foods, health and fitness items, and electronics. In 1982, utilizing the benefits as a trading company, Marukai opened the first retail shop "Membership Marukai Wholesale Mart" in Gardena, Los Angeles. Marukai established a unique purchasing logistics, strategy and inventory control which made it possible to provide our customers with great values on Japanese items. Since then, Marukai has been the LA area's price leader. In 1996, Marukai opened the "Marukai Forum" in Gardena, CA. The 45,000 sq. ft. shop offers Japanese food, household items, ceramics, health and beauty products, Japanese furniture, Kimono, and antiques, which offers one of the best selection in the entire US. Currently, there are 10 retail shops including membership and 98cent PLUS stores. Marukai will continue to improve the shops to satisfy our clients and 80,000 members.

Jungle

Jungle- Collector's Shop- Animation and Japanese TV collectibles (Lower level of Union Bank of California- Japanese Village Plaza)



First opened in osaka in 1995, Jungle Special Collectors has grown to become one of Western Japan's best retailers of pre-owned audio/visual media (DVD, LD, CD, CD-Single, and VHS), specializing in Japanese animation, tokusatsu (live action heroes/SFX), and films from around the world. We also boast the world's best selection of Japan's "Indies" films-fan-made movies, hero films, parodies, animation, and more by independent filmmakers. Jungle has expanded from a small 250 square feet store to become a three story retail outlet of high-quality used media with its own theater and a Tokusatsu fan club. In 1998, Anime Jungle opened its web site and began to retail online, adding English (2000) and Korean (2001) sites as well. We continue to grow and opened a shop in July 2001 in the Little Tokyo Mall of Los Angeles in the United States! We're very pleased to bring to the American public Japanese anime, Tokusatsu, and Independent Films. We have thousands of different products and special collector items, and sincerely hope we'll have the chance to serve you sometime!

Five photos of replicated food on display (Various Restaurants)

    

Japanese food is very yummy XD

Kinokuniya Bookstore

The bookstore is located at the Weller Court.



Books Kinokuniya (紀伊國屋書店 Kinokuniya Shoten^?) is a Japanese bookstore chain operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd. (株式会社紀伊國屋書店Kabushiki-gaisha Kinokuniya Shoten^?), founded in 1927, with its first store located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It means "Store of Kii Province".

Five items from Mikawaya (Japanese Village Plaza)

  
 


Since 1910 Mikawaya has taken pride in the manufacture and sales of traditional Japanese pastries known as "Wagashi" In April of 1994, Mikawaya, the creators of Mochi Ice Cream, began to sell this ice cream novelty. This new product is quite possibly the most unique ice cream dessert to come along in 50 years.

Five items from Fugetsudo (Japanese Village Plaza)

Fugetsu-Do has been a family owned and operated confectionery store in Little Tokyo since 1903. Japanese rice cakes, more commonly known as mochi (rice cake) and manju (sweet bean-filled rice cake), are the staple. The shop, which is currently operated by Brian Kito, is located on East First Street, in the heart of the Historic District of Little Tokyo. Some of the family history was shared with me, and I welcome the opportunity to put down on paper one family's history in the United States.

Statue of Kinjiro Ninomiya

Located at 2nd and San Pedro 

Ninomiya Sontoku (二宮 尊徳^?, September 4, 1787 - November 17, 1856), born Ninomiya Kinjirō (二宮 金次郎), was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader, philosopher, moralist and economist.

Tako Yaki

Taki Yaki - Mitsuru Cafe (Food Item)

Takoyaki (たこ焼き or 蛸焼^?) (literally fried or grilled octopus) is a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan (see below). It is typically filled with diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.

In modern days, it became common to be brushed with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise, and topped with green laver (aonori) and katsuobushi (shavings of driedbonito). There are many variations to the takoyaki recipe. For example, ponzu i.e. soy sauce with dashi and citrus vinegar, goma-dare i.e. sesame-and-vinegar sauce or vinegared dashi.

Imagawayaki

Imagawayaki (今川焼き) is a Japanese dessert often found at festivals, also wide-spreading inTaiwan (車輪餅 or 紅豆餅). It is made of batter in a special pan (similar to a waffle iron but without the honeycomb pattern), and filled with sweet azuki bean paste, although it is becoming increasingly popular to use a wider variety of fillings such as vanilla custard, different fruit custards and preserves,curry, different meat and vegetable fillings, potato and mayonnaise.