Youth Voice is Among the Loudest in the Movement to Preserve Little Tokyo: Action alerts on Facebook, MySpace and Yelp? It's a whole new generation of activism

by Lynda Lin, Assistant Editor
from Pacific Citizen
Published October 19, 2007
Posted 10/24/07.

On Yelp.com, a popular social networking and user review site, the online chatter about the best eateries and coffee shops was recently interrupted with an important message: save Los Angeles' Little Tokyo.

"Little Tokyo is our home. Little Tokyo is our history. Little Tokyo is our future. And the people who share that home should have a say in what happens to it," read the petition started by J-Town Voice, a multigenerational volunteer activist organization.

The petition, posted on Yelp.com, received over 40 personal responses and bumps (an acronym for "Bring Up My Post" to literally raise the thread's profile) from young Yelpers expressing feelings of solidarity about their ethnic enclave.

Ryan Woo, 27, didn't know about the July sale of the Japanese Village Plaza to American Commercial Equities and the August sale of the New Otani Hotel and Weller Court to 3D Investments until he read the petition on Yelp.com.

"My initial reaction was a sharp stab of shock," said Woo of West Los Angeles.

Several incarnations of the petition have also made it onto MySpace.com, popular blogging sites and many e-mail inboxes. For generations of Asian Pacific Americans that have no real tangible ties to the area like older generations, the passion for preservation seems boundless.

Then it happened.

A team of two men and one woman reported to be of college age were chased away at 3 a.m. on Oct. 9 after they plastered about 16 posters on the walls of Weller Court and the New Otani Hotel, according to security officials.

The posters damaged the walls. No suspects have been identified and no charges were filed.

But the message was clear: Buying building property does not buy community.

Community groups have condemned the act of vandalism, but many individuals sympathize with its spirit.

"While I feel bad for those individuals who had to clean it up, I couldn't help but agree with what was written on the posters," said Mickie Okamoto, a Shin Nisei and president of the Nikkei Student Union at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"It's amazing how much people actually care about places like Little Tokyo when Little Tokyo isn't even necessarily a place they come to very often," said Geoff Tsudama, a Yonsei from Gardena. Calif.

"I feel like many other young people are having this same surprising experience, and the reason why I think it's surprising is because people have such low expectations for youth. People may see us as the couch potato generation, but if we're given the opportunity to step up and support a worthy cause, we're more than willing to do so."

At press time, the online petition, which calls for more dialogue between community members and the new owners of the Japanese Village Plaza, Weller Court and the New Otani Hotel, has received over 5,000 signatures.

3D Investments, the same Beverly Hills-based investment company that last year bought a majority of San Francisco's Japantown, has broken its wall of silence by meeting with members of the Little Tokyo Community Council and J-Town Voice. The family-owned company has also asked community members to help rename the hotel - a gesture many consider to be empty.

"Just by keeping a name relevant to the community does not ensure much. The community should have the voice and command in considering where to go from here," said Sally Kikuchi, a Shin Nisei who has been keeping active with the Little Tokyo preservation movement from her University of California, Berkeley campus.

Her NSU members are planning a walking tour of San Francisco's Japantown and highlighting the issue of the sales in a skit for their annual cultural show.

"Little Tokyo means something different to each person, but there is a commonality. It's a gathering point," said Kei Nagao of the J-Town Voice. "I think it's a sense of place that draws people into Little Tokyo even with the economic changes."

For years, Nagao has watched much of her neighborhood get swallowed up by high-priced lofts and chain eateries.

The Japanese American community has not been without voice in the dialogue about progress and preservation, but in many community groups, an established hierarchy at times does not allow for young people to speak.

With J-Town Voice, ideas flow without any encumbrances of age, rank or social position.

"The way we function, we like to participate and share ideas. It gives everyone an opportunity to ask questions and discuss long-term solutions. It's a way for young people who don't work in Little Tokyo to feel inclusive as possible," said Nagao.

Their Oct. 4 meeting galvanized community members who have not participated in these discussions in the past to talk about what they hope to see in Little Tokyo in the future.

The voices of the youth were among the most passionate.

Growing up in South Pasadena, a suburb about 10 miles from Little Tokyo, Okamoto often frequented the restaurants and karaoke places with her Japanese school friends.

"Much like the original Issei generation, Little Tokyo was a place for me and my family and friends in the Japanese community to get a taste of the homeland culture," she said.

Besides being one of his favorite hangout spots, Michael Le Page sees Little Tokyo as a place for inspiration.

"To me that place is the best example of the American dream - sounds corny, but it's true," said the 19-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., who read about the petition on a friend's MySpace blog.

The fear is palpable. Could Little Tokyo continue to slip into a more generic version of an ethnic enclave that just masks its gentrification with architectural facades?

"Much of my initial attachment to Los Angeles arose out of my time spent in Little Tokyo while in college," said Woo of West Los Angeles. "It was refreshing to have an area that lent legitimacy to LA's multiethnic historical demographic."

Woo's attachment to the area stems from family-owned establishments like Haru Ulala, an izakaya restaurant. But Second Street has already been taken over by commercialized lofts, he points out.

"For [the sale] to happen to Weller Court makes me feel as another piece of the area is open for infection."

"I may be only speaking for myself, but if I wanted to go to one of those places, I could go a few blocks away," said Tsudama about chain stores. "No one goes to Chinatown to go to Starbucks. They go to get good Chinese food or to experience the many shops that represent the Chinese culture. Why shouldn't it be the same for Little Tokyo?"