Little Tokyo is a place that holds a great example of how a space becomes a place. Andrea and Damian used the metro as public transportation to get to Little Tokyo.We chose the Japanese Village Plaza as the focal point because it had the most interaction among visitors and residents. We chose three locations to analyze the interactions inside the plaza and document the findings.  Andrea was located exactly in the middle of the pathway from Yagura Tower to the end of the village. Damian was placed at the end of the plaza. Our findings were positively amazing.   

In the center of the plaza, Andrea witnessed how members of the community interacted. One notices that the majority of inhabitants are from Asian descent. However, Little Tokyo at its beginning was used as a sort of “refugee camp” for Japanese immigrants. Nowadays you see ethnicity ranging from Korean to Chinese descent living in Little Tokyo. This shows how a place can transform through time and possess a different meaning. The visitors of Little Tokyo are extremely diverse and the consumerism taking place in Little Tokyo is unbelievable. Visitors walk around with bags of souvenirs and novelty items bought at shops being sponsored internationally. Economically, Little Tokyo is prosperous in selling novelty “authentic” Asian items to consumers.

          
 
            From Damian’s standpoint, it was noted that Little Tokyo has lost the comfort and serenity that was supposed to offer its residents since its establishment. Having gone from offering shelter for immigrants, Little Tokyo now only offers ways of entertainment to attract its profits. Today Little Tokyo is considered a space that one would call an amusement park, an atmosphere used for the enjoyment of various international visitors used for its commercialism. Given its remodeling, what maintains Little Tokyo alive today is the connections made between the market resources appealing to its international visitors such as American cafés and European cuisine. Through Damian’s lens, it was relevant that the combinations of these cultures are blended through the usage of English as their base for communication.



Our visual mapping of Little Tokyo at each observation point. This is raw footage. We wanted the viewer to be able to hear and see what Little Tokyo really looks like.

Begin this path: Little Tokyo: Space and Place

1. Little Tokyo: History in the Making
2. Critical Maps Little Tokyo

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