With its downtown location, Little Tokyo is not often part of Los Angeles sightseeing tours that typically focus on the Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood areas, but some hop-on hop-off bus tour routes include a Little Tokyo stop. The main attractions in the neighborhood are the Japanese Village Plaza shopping and dining district, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, one of the three branches of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
Other sights to see include a monument to Japanese American astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986; the Go For Broke Monument, which honors Japanese Americans who served in the American military during World War II; Buddhist temples; and the Japanese garden at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
You can reach Little Tokyo on the Metro Gold, Red, and Purple lines. The neighborhood is less than a mile walk from Walt Disney Concert Hall along E. 1st Street.
Go on the weekends to enjoy the bustling atmosphere, or check out jazz or karaoke bars in the evening. Events in Little Tokyo include the Tanabata Festival in August and the Oshogatsu New Year’s Festival.
Open daily except Monday, the Japanese American National Museum is dedicated to promoting and educating the public about the Japanese American experience. Exhibits feature diverse subjects such as stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, displays of Japanese toys, Japanese art, and the tradition of Japanese tattoos.
