A volunteer sweeps in Mineta Plaza at the Japanese American National Museum as part of Little Tokyo Sparkle on May 18.
By TOMOKO NAGAI
RAFU STAFF WRITER
Little Tokyo Sparkle took place May 18 with approximately 450 volunteers participating.
The participants swept the streets, picked up trash, washed windows, and removed graffiti, gum, and stickers from the neighborhood. After the cleanup, they enjoyed lunch and a raffle.
The cleanup activities in Little Tokyo, initiated by a few students in the 1990s, have significantly evolved into a major community event since 2016. The 18th Little Tokyo Sparkle also marked AAPI Community Day of Service, with similar cleaning activities carried out in seven ethnic neighborhoods across the city, including Koreatown and Thai Town. According to the city, the number of volunteers in Little Tokyo far exceeded the combined total of all other districts.
Additionally, in Little Tokyo, this day is affectionately known as the Nancy Kikuchi Community Day in honor of the memory of Nancy Kikuchi (1962-2014), who was a community volunteer and contributor to many organizations in Little Tokyo, including Little Tokyo Service Center.
With brooms and cleaning supplies in hand, volunteers gather in front of Japanese Village Plaza.
Approximately 370 people pre-registered, and an additional 80 checked in on the day of the event. Starting from the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) Plaza, the volunteers set out into the streets equipped with cleaning tools provided by the city and bright green “Little Tokyo” bandanas. They divided into groups and worked in their assigned areas. Many trash bags were lined up on the corners for collection by city trucks.
The task of removing stickers and graffiti carelessly placed on public signs and utility poles was particularly challenging, with several people often working together on a single spot.
After the cleanup, the volunteers returned to the JACCC Plaza to for lunch provided by local chefs and restaurants in Little Tokyo, and participated in a raffle featuring numerous items donated by businesses and companies in the community.
The Los Angeles Aikido Center, which has a dojo on North Main Street, participated with a group of about 25 people. Nine-year-old Sarah joined her mother in sweeping up fallen flowers from the jacaranda-lined sidewalks on Third Street.
Gentatsu Sakakibara from San Fernando Valley, who was struggling with a graffiti-covered fire hydrant, said, “I don’t come to Little Tokyo often,”? but added, “I enjoy community service activities like this, so when I heard about Sparkle from a friend, I decided to join for the first time.”
Mike Okamura’s group from the Little Tokyo Historical Society cleaned the sidewalks around Toriumi Plaza, the community square looking up at Los Angeles City Hall. Built on land once used by the LAPD, Toriumi Plaza is currently fenced off and closed after it was used for an encampment by homeless people.
In the plaza there is a bronze sculpture commemorating the three Japantowns remaining in the U.S.: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. However, the sculpture has been defaced by graffiti, and stands unobserved as it is fenced off.
Okamura stated, “I think once the community decides what to do with this space, we have to maintain it with cleanliness, safety, so then we can use the public space again. So we’re trying to beautify Little Tokyo and to make it feel more welcoming and safe so the visitors have a good experience.”
Brian Kito, one of the organizers and the owner of the longest-established Japanese confectionery store Fugetsudo, commented, “It’s nice because young and old and cleaning up a neighborhood gives you a feeling of ownership. I want younger people to understand that Little Tokyo is theirs and that in order for it to continue, it needs a Nikkei or especially a Nikkei community to support it and to take ownership of it.”
Steve Nagano and his wife Patty have been leading figures in Little Tokyo Sparkle as community activists. “Another wonderful event,” Steve said. “It’s really a testament to how much Little Tokyo means to everybody … For 140 years, our grandparents, great-grandparents established Little Tokyo and we just want to keep it going.
“This is one of the 11 places in the United States that’s endangered (according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation) and unless we, especially the Japanese American community, don’t treasure it, what’s going to happen for the fifth, sixth, seventh generation? “Once a year is not enough, but we started this as a cleanup but more than anything it’s turned into building community, so the cleanup has kind of become secondary and then the kimochi and care for Little Tokyo is more important.”
If one were to look at the town with fresh eyes during the cleanup, they would notice how many public objects are defaced with graffiti and stickers, including the special land-marks in Japantown. We don’t have to live in Little Tokyo to participate; the event serves to remind community members to take ownership of Little Tokyo, feel responsible for its upkeep and growth, and actively engage in its welfare.
“It just warms my heart to see this many people come out and clean up Little Tokyo, and that means that many more people have the same feeling that I do of pride in the community,” remarked Kito. “They walk away with a good feeling about Little Tokyo and themselves too.”
The Sparkle participants were all smiles as they socialized after the event. Their hearts were sparkling.