The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center is the largest Asian American cultural center in the United States and the heart of the Japanese American community in Los Angeles. The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center Installation view of “The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA’s Collection,” on view through January 27, 2020, at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Consider this to be your indispensable guide to one of L.A.’s most bustling, delicious, and explorable nabes. One of only three official Japantowns in the United States (the other two are also in California, in San Francisco and San Jose), the area’s five-ish blocks are crammed with a sizeable Japanese American population who operate and frequent the district’s old-school sushi joints, streetwear vendors, Instagrammable soft-serve spots, manga hotspots, and more.

By the early 1900s, the issei (Japanese immigrant) population boomed from just 3,000 residents to 10,000 people, leading to an explosion of Japanese-owned shops and restaurants-several of which are still open today. In 1885, Charles Hama, a former seaman from Japan, opened the now-closed Kame Restaurant on East First Street (the first known Japanese-owned business in L.A.). that dates to the turn of the 20th century. One of the city’s most robust ethnic enclaves is Little Tokyo, a district on the northern outskirts of downtown L.A. Little Bangladesh, Thai Town, Little Armenia, Koreatown, Little Ethiopia, Tehrangeles, Historic Filipinotown-if there’s a culture you want to explore, chances are Los Angeles has a neighborhood for that.

Restaurant town tokyo