I loved visiting Little Tokyo when I lived in Los Angeles, so I hope it keeps something of its character. Though what does it mean when a caucasian of mostly English descent wants to save the character of an ethnic neighborhood? There’s a stench of paternalism about it.

This article, Save Little Tokyo, is a reminder that Los Angeles is a great big Jackson Pollock painting, with each streak and drip being a unique little neighborhood (though some more desirable to live in than others).

There was a restaurant in Little Tokyo called Haru Ulala that opened at five pm and catered to the after work crowd with tall bottles of beer poured into little glasses and servings of grilled and fried seafood and vegetables.

A little store, with the sort of random goods you’d expect from a Dollar Tree, but which always had these strange little notebooks – composition books for tests, actually, with poorly translated phrases on the front (‘THIS NOTEBOOK IS THE BEST QUALITY FOR WRITING SENTENCES’).

And, of course, the toy store with classic Godzilla movies and toys, Great Mazer action figures. Everything a man-child could want.