Open House in Little Tokyo

Photo by J.K. YAMAMOTO / Rafu Shimpo
Outside the entrance to the building’s second-floor space (from left): Taiji Miyagawa, Vivienne Lee, Takao Suzuki, June Hibino, Mike Murase, Kimi Maru.

The Little Tokyo Community Impact Fund held an open house on Nov. 8 for a commercial building it has purchased in Little Tokyo as a means to help small business tenants.

The purchase of the building at 321-1/2 E. First St. was a community effort powered by investors, volunteers and organizations.

Tour guides on the mostly vacant second floor of the building included Bill Watanabe, president of LTCIF, board member of Little Tokyo Historial Society, and former executive director of Little Tokyo Service Center.

Built in 1899, the building has office space on the second floor and retail tenants on the first floor: Monster Patrol (a toy store), Daikokuya Annex (with Onigiri Sun), and Kaminari Gyoza Bar.

Nobu Kuze, owner of Monster Patrol, recalled how worried she was that her rent would go up when she heard that there were new owners of the building, but how relieved she was when she learned about LTCIF’s rental policies that encourage legacy and other community-connected businesses.

Photo by Mike Murase
Monster Patrol owner Nobu Kuze addresses LTCIF shareholders.

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