Where I Have Been: Little Tokyo!!

Me and the boyfriend! <3

Last Saturday, my boyfriend and I took the metro down to Los Angeles to explore.  No, we didn't have a plan (that was kinda my fault but I forgot :P), so we just allowed the winding streets and distant music to lead us.  First we found ourselves in this colorful street market outside of L.A. Union Station, complete with bright streamers and vendors cooking sopes, enchiladas, and pouring iced Horchata into big Styrofoam cups.  What caught my eye most were these small, heavy replicas of Aztec art.  Looking at those makes one feel as though somehow, someone managed to tear the Sun down from the sky and cement an imprint of His Hand into jade or obsidian.  They really were absolutely gorgeous, but..!

We didn't stop there.  As we walked, I realized just how much I needed to be in Little Tokyo.  It had been something of an obsession for me to visit the closest hub of Japanese culture and cuisine I knew.  I have been into anime and such all my life, but it was really the recent discovery of Japanese cuisine that set me off.  And so, a-walkin' we went!

The first stop was this hardware store that I unfortunately forgot the name of, but where I will definitely find myself in the future.  Why?  Because they had the thing I have been stuck on most the last year: a takoyaki pan.  Don't know what takoyaki is?  Look no further!

Then, it was off to find some authentic ramen.  We were headed to a place called "Daikokuya", a restaurant renowed for its food, and it was definitely obvious once we got to the door how 'renowned' it was.  A huge line had already formed, so we skipped over (blasphemy, I know! We'll have to save it for another day :3) instead to Shin-Sen-Gumi, a place with an equally impressive reputation just across the street.  There we sat down and got one order of Takoyaki and a 1/2 order of ramen for each of us.  There, you get to choose your own toppings; let me just say that their ramen - complete with a flavored egg and shrimp wontons - are absolutely divine!

Next, after that we walked just up the street and wound up in the Japanese American National Museum, a beautiful building with tall windows and wonderful, heart-wrenching exhibits.  In the half hour we were there we visited all of their open exhibits:

the "Go For Broke" exhibit,

the Remembrance Project display,

and the "Common Ground: Heart of the Community" exhibit,

all of which detailed the history of the Japanese American community, from the first generation of immigrants in America - and their struggles against racism and poverty as they searched for wealth, land, and a future in the United States - to the Japanese Americans that served proudly in the U.S. military during World War II despite the gross betrayal of the U.S. government against their families and themselves.

What I found most amazing in this exhibit is the parallels their experiences had with that of my own ancestors, who for the bulk of U.S. history were allowed to amount to nothing more than slaves, property for their white, landowning counterparts.  Moreso, it reminded me that in spite of the extreme levels of racism that have always permeated U.S. culture, that the U.S. was from its inception a melting pot, that cowboys, soldiers, homesteaders in the Mid-West, and gold prospectors in California, came in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

It is amazing that immersing ourselves in the culture of another can often remind us of the lessons and truths we have learned from our own history.

Finally, we took a train back to L.A. Union and headed down the Red Line to Amoeba Music in Hollywood, which - if you haven't been there, you NEED to go.  Our train back home was coming soon, so I just picked up one of my favorite movies, "Amélie", and we hurried back in time to catch the train back to the I.E.

The daytrip was a treat in and of itself I think, and one that was sorely needed as finals and the completion of my B.A. degree come barreling closer; living in the heart of Suburbia means you don't really get many places to explore that are close by.  If you have never been to Little Tokyo before, go! This was only my first time there, and I am already aching to go back. :)