NAMING PROJECTS
Honoring contributions from visionary Japanese Americans throughout Little Tokyo
Naming Projects are plaques, monuments, and other signifying indicators that the Little Tokyo Historical Society has worked to place throughout the city. They are reminders of moments and people in our history who have had the greatest impact. The Naming Sites Committee meets monthly. For those that are interested in joining, please contact Bill Watanabe at bwatanabe@gmail.com
Historic Union Church and Union Center for the Arts
2024
The Union Church was built in 1923 to house three united church congregations. In 1943, this site served as a departure point for residents of Little Tokyo and Terminal Island with its destination to Manzanar. During the Internment years, this space was used by the African American (or Bronzeville) community for various activities. After the war, the church relocated in 1976 to a new site a few blocks to the south and was largely abandoned for many years. The Little Tokyo Service Center renovated the building and in 1998, the facility became the Union Center of the Arts - and home to the East West Players Theater, Visual Communications, and LA Art Core. It was designated a LA City Historic Cultural Monument #312 (1986) and then as part of a National Historic Landmark District (1993).
See a video of the event on March 3, 2024. Click here.
Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple
2023
The Historic Building was built in 1925 as the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. Following the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, local Japanese Americans were ordered to gather in front of the temple with only the possessions that they could carry. There they boarded buses that would take them to concentration camps. The temple was closed during World War II and reopened in 1945.
Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of JANM states, “It is hallowed ground, a site of conscience, and a gathering place for civic engagement and social justice. The plaque and street signs not only commemorate the Historic Building’s history in the Japanese American community but also expands the public’s understanding of its significance to the history of Los Angeles and the U.S”.
Koyasan
2023
Koyasan Buddhist Temple was established in 1912, and is one of the oldest temples in the United States. It moved to its present location in 1940. Koyasan's Boy Scout Troop 379 has had hundreds who have become Eagle Scouts and its famous Drum and Bugle Corps has performed at many distinguished venues and events.
Kame Restaurant
2022
In 1884, Hamanosuke Shigeta opened Kame restaurant, the first Japanese-owned business in Los Angeles at 340 lst Street and sparked the beginning of Little Tokyo. Bunkado (a business legacy gift store) is now located where Kame restaurant once existed .
The Finale Club
2020
PROJECT COORDINATOR: MIYA IWATAKI
LOCATED: 230 1/2 East First Street, Los Angeles
During WWII, forced removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans into concentration camps and turned the thriving Little Tokyo community into a shuttered ghost town. For African Americans migrating to the West Coast seeking wartime jobs, Little Tokyo was one area without discriminatory housing covenants. They moved in, opened businesses, and Little Tokyo became known as “Bronzeville:”
All night “Breakfast Clubs” sprung up in Bronzeville, patronized by jazz musicians and late night jazz aficionados. Among them was the Finale Club at 230 ½ E. First Street. In 1946, this confluence of music, race, and politics led to an historic performance at The Finale Club. Two jazz greats – sax virtuoso Charlie Parker and trumpeter extraordinaire Miles Davis – played at the Finale when Little Tokyo was Bronzeville and while the Japanese American community was imprisoned due to unfounded war hysteria.
In recognition of the important historic circumstances of exclusion and discrimination shared by the Japanese American and African American communities which led to the unique creation of Little Tokyo/Bronzeville; and to memorialize and educate music lovers about the rare performance of jazz greats Charlie Parker and Miles Davis at the Finale Club; the Little Tokyo Historical Society won approval from the Mayor and LA City Council to install an Historical Monument sign in front of the current property at 230 ½ East First Street, Little Tokyo.
Sei Fujii & J. Marion Wright
2015
PROJECT COORDINATORS: CAROLE FUJITA & JEFFREY GEE CHIN
LOCATED: Japanese Village Plaza
Sei Fujii (1882-1954) is the outspoken founder of the Kashu Mainichi, California Japanese Daily News. An immigrant from Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Fujii comes to the United States in 1903, attends Compton Union High School and USC Law. Together with law school classmate J. Marion Wright wins two major Supreme Court Cases and dedicates 51 years of his life to defend the Nikkei Community in America.
Notably, after World War II, in Sei Fujii v California, Fujii and Wright convinced the California Supreme Court to overturn the California Alien Land Law, which had heavily restricted Japanese ownership and leasing of land and property since 1913. (Sei Fuji v California).
In a 1924 fight to get better medical care for Japanese community, Fujii and Wright won the Jordan vs. Tashiro case before the United States Supreme Court enabling Japanese Hospital to be built in 1929.
LTHS dedicated the Sei Fujii Memorial Lantern in August 2015 which is located at the Japanese Village Plaza in Little Tokyo, and the original site of the Kashu Mainchi newspaper. The naming site project honors Fujii's and Wright’s contributions to the Little Tokyo and Japanese American communities.
Toyo Miyatake
2013
PROJECT COORDINATOR: BILL WATANABE
LOCATED: Toyo Miyatake Way, between South San Pedro and Los Angeles Street slightly south of 2nd St. near the Sakura Crossing Apartments
Toyo Miyatake was a noted photographer based in Little Tokyo who gained fame through his on-the-spot photographs of the WW2 Confinement Site known as Manzanar. The Little Tokyo Historical Society worked with The Related Company in designating a street in their housing development project to be named "Toyo Miyatake Lane" and a full-sized relief of Toyo with a shoulder-slung camera will be erected on the site.
Reverend Howard Toriumi
2012
PROJECT COORDINATORS: BILL WATANABE & TAD KOWTA
PROJECT: Toriumi Plaza, northwest corner of First Street and Judge John Aiso Street
Reverend Toriumi was a highly-regarded minister of the Union Church in Little Tokyo and was instrumental in the establishment of several significant community projects such as the Little Tokyo Community Redevelopment Project Area, the Koreisha Chushoku Kai senior nutrition program, and the Parkinsons Support Group. The Little Tokyo Historical Society has been in negotiations with the City of Los Angeles to designate a ground-level open plaza and garden above a public parking structure at First and Aiso Streets, just across from the site of the church which is now the Union Center for the Arts.
Nellie Oliver
PROJECT COORDINATORS: BILL WATANABE
LOCATED: TBD
Nellie Oliver was an elementary school teacher in Little Tokyo during the 1920's and 1930's who created her own boys and girls clubs for the Japanese American youngsters growing up in the area without access to such activities. She became a tremendous positive influence for hundreds of young boys and girls who learned about social and life skills in addition to playing sports. The Little Tokyo Historical Society is seeking to designate a street on the east side of a new development at First Street and Alameda called Nikkei Center (formerly the Mangrove Project) which is located very near the school at which Ms. Oliver taught.
Sue Kunitomi Embrey
PROJECT COORDINATOR: NAMING SITE COMMITTEE
LOCATED: TBD
Sue Kunitomi Embrey (1923-2006) was a Little Tokyo native and a leader and activist in the Japanese American community for decades. She was an advocate for social justice, working to better women and children's lives, and to protect workers' rights and dignity. The Little Tokyo Historical Society is working to place a compelling and artistic piece in Little Tokyo to honor her historically significant work in the Japanese American community.
