Latest news with #LittleTokyo
The Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The European city with £15 flights that feels like ‘going to Japan without the cost'
JAPAN is 8,000 miles away from the UK - but what if we told you there's a version of the incredible city much closer to home? Düsseldorf has the third largest Japanese community in Europe, and the city even has its own Little Tokyo. 7 7 Little Tokyo is full of shops, cafes and restaurants that will transport you to Japan. You'll find the miniature Japanese city between the main station and city centre down two streets called Immermannstraße and Klosterstraße. Little Tokyo can be bustling, especially for anyone looking for something delicious to eat. There are places to pick up ramen and noodle dishes, sushi, as well as izakaya tapas, even baked goods. One of the most popular restaurants in Little Tokyo is Takumi which has very high ratings on Tripadvisor. The menu includes various types of ramen, soups and gyozas. The market Shochiku sells fresh fish and even has sushi counters. There are lots of shops in the city that sell Japanese books, manga, and origami paper. Another popular spot is Lime Light Karaoke Box which is in the basement of the Clayton Hotel. You can go there for a sing song in a private room that is rented out by the hour. Sample the atmosphere of welcoming Dusseldorf 7 7 One day a year, the Japanese community gathers in Little Tokyo to celebrate Japan Day. It's known as Europe's largest Japanese cultural festival and is usually celebrated at the end of May. There are lots of events like music, dancing, food festivals, and it all ends with a fireworks display. Little Tokyo is a popular spot with tourists, one visitor said: "One of the must-visit places in Düsseldorf is undoubtedly this lively street that has become a hub for lovers of Japanese cuisine and culture. "Along this bustling street, you will find several top ramen locations, each offering a slightly different style and flavor, making it a perfect spot for ramen enthusiasts eager to sample a variety of authentic dishes." Another added: "My wife and I have been missing the charm of Japan, so we decided to take a two-day, one-night trip to Düsseldorf." They continued to add that they were "enchanted" by the Japanese alleyways and that it transported them to the outskirts of Tokyo. 7 7 Japan is known for having beautiful gardens with bright flowers and plants. Düsseldorf has its own version of those too and it's literally called Japanischer Garten. The garden was created in the 1970s and has pine trees, Japanese maples that surround a pond. It's also called the 'Garden of Reflection' and is considered a good place for quiet and to relax. Sun Travel found flights from Edinburgh to Düsseldorf with Ryanair on July 16 for the cheapest flight at £14.99. Here are even more holiday destinations that you can fly to for under £15. 7
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
L.A. Protests Deal Serious Blow to Businesses in Little Tokyo as Rioters Commit Theft, Vandalism
Yasushi Kaneko/ Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent Little Tokyo in Los Angeles deserted due to protests, on June 13. LOS ANGELES — Protests against U.S. President Donald Trump administration's increased immigration crackdown have seriously impacted Little Tokyo, the Japanese neighborhood in Los Angeles that is home to many Japanese restaurants and other businesses. The area is included in the curfew zone, which has caused a further decline in the number of customers in addition to the deteriorating security situation. Protests continue in the downtown area near Dodger Stadium, where Little Tokyo is located. The city of Los Angeles has imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. since June 10, forcing many stores to close in the evening. Yasushi Kaneko /Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent Little Tokyo in Los Angeles deserted due to protests, on June 13. 'Sales have dropped to one-fifth,' lamented Mamoru Tokuda, 47, owner of Kouraku, known as the oldest ramen shop in the United States. Tokuda tried to stop rioters from spray-painting graffiti and nearly got sprayed in the face. 'Most demonstrations are peaceful, but the radical behavior by some ruins it,' he said angrily. Founded by Japanese Americans after World War II, Little Tokyo is one of the largest Japanese neighborhoods in the United States and is home to hundreds of restaurants and other stores. There have been a series of cases of glass breakage and theft by rioters. Brian Kito, 68, president of a crime prevention group, said, 'The atmosphere changes dramatically at night and stores have become more vigilant.' Most stores have boarded up their windows to prevent damage. At the Miyako Hotel Los Angeles, a Japanese-affiliated hotel, hundreds of reservations have been canceled since June. Akira Yuhara, 72, the hotel's general manager, said: 'The hotel's occupancy rate has dropped by half compared to the same month last year. We are in a very difficult situation and hope it will be resolved as soon as possible.
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Solidarity and dismay in a neighborhood on the edge of the L.A. protests
LOS ANGELES — In Little Tokyo, a five-block neighborhood east of downtown that is among the country's largest Japanese American enclaves, news often gets delivered and shared at the century-old koban. It's a community security office similar to those in Japan, housed in a former police substation and named after a local hero from World War II.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protest curfews wallop downtown restaurants: 'Just stay open, make money where we can.'
The Mermaid hasn't turned a profit since Saturday. The aquatic-themed Little Tokyo bar is typically open daily and a hub for regulars, community events and off-duty workers of the hospitality industry, all bathed in soft blue lighting meant to replicate the ocean's waves. But these fixtures hadn't been found there for days, because the Mermaid — like many restaurants and bars spread through downtown's hot zones for anti-ICE protests and an 8 p.m. curfew — is closing, pivoting to other business models and trying new hours of operation to weather fallout from ongoing unrest spurred by widespread immigration raids. 'It's devastating,' said co-owner Arlene Roldan. 'It's ultimately going to impact us dramatically. With all the work that we've already put into this, it's like a whole new bar at this point, and a whole new marketing strategy that we're going to have to come up with.' Little Tokyo, she said, is often the epicenter of community activism and marches. After seeing how many protesters were gathering downtown on Sunday, she and her business partner, Katie Kildow, decided not to open that evening. Read more: Federal prosecutors 'coming after' L.A. protesters. Do some charges encroach on 1st Amendment? They tried to reopen their bar on Monday but only made it an hour before the protests pushed almost to their door, which is located three blocks from the Metropolitan Detention Center. LAPD then closed nearby streets, and no one could access the cocktail bar. On Tuesday night Roldan heard a rumor that Mayor Karen Bass could issue a curfew, and told her staff to stay home until further notice. About an hour later, the order came. The Mermaid remained closed. On Wednesday, the team tried something different: Reopen at noon, and close at 7 p.m. in accordance with the curfew. Now they're trying to reach an entirely new demographic of those able to stop by for a drink during the daytime, while also communicating to regulars that the bar will only be open through 7 p.m. until the curfew lifts. Roldan said that as an owner-operator, she feels fortunate to be in a position to make business decisions that can help staff and keep the doors open, even if it means taking on bartending shifts herself. It's been consolation during a trying week. 'Little Tokyo was definitely hit very hard on Monday with opportunists that were looting,' Roldan said. 'Some of this graffiti is a little daunting, and here people today are now boarding up their businesses. So it's just becoming a little bit more and more bleak each day.' Read more: 330 immigrants detained in Southern California since Friday, White House spokesperson says Roldan is still standing with the protests, personally participating in marches during the day and offering drinks to customers who might need an escape from the disarray beyond the Mermaid's doors. 'It seems like we're always part of the path [of protests], so we're offering water and a place for people to recharge and to revive,' she said. 'We're also offering a welcome drink to anyone who just needs to calm their nerves as well, because it is a very intense environment out here.' Sampa, a nearby restaurant in the Arts District, is also toying with new daytime hours to offset business losses from the evening curfew. Since Friday, its owners saw reservations canceled first in a trickle, then by roughly 20%. On Sunday, the modern Filipino restaurant lost at least 50% of its business, with reservations canceled. Brunch walk-ins slowed to a halt. 'I think most of our diners travel to us and they get spooked,' said co-owner Jenny Valles. 'They get really scared like, 'Well, I don't know if I'm going to get caught up in the protests or the street closures, so we're just going to stay away.' While 99% of L.A. is doing fine and living their lives, people don't realize that 1% is greatly affected by this. We are one square mile where the curfew is, and it's really difficult.' On Tuesday evening when Valles and her business partners — husband Peter Rosenberg and chef Josh Espinosa — learned of downtown's 8 p.m. curfew, they canceled most of the night's reservations and closed early to allow staff to return home safely. Now they're pivoting their business hours, hoping that running the weekend brunch menu on weekdays and starting dinner at 3 p.m. can help them sustain. 'We're a small business, we can't afford to close,' Valles said. 'Our strategy is just: stay open, make money where we can, make sure we keep our lights on, make sure we keep our staff on.' Espinosa estimates that the restaurant makes 80% of its revenue between the hours of 6 and 10 p.m.; with a multi-day curfew in place, they're concerned that they cannot afford to close for even one hour between brunch and dinner service. 'We're dealt cards and it's on us to make the most of it and make the best of it,' Espinosa said. Valles said that restaurateurs she knows also carry 'emotional stress' concerning the well-being of immigrant staff. 'It's really emotionally difficult,' she said. 'They are the ones that wash the dishes, they are the ones that cook, they are the ones that put food on our plates across L.A.' Nearer to City Hall, Indian mainstay Badmaash closed due to street closures, the curfew and fallout from protests. 'We're taking it day by day,' co-owner Nakul Mahendro said in an email. 'Our main concern is the safety and well being of our staff.' 'No one wants to come downtown,' he added. 'We don't have any reservations…The business impact is tough, especially after all we've been through, but we're encouraging guests to visit our Fairfax location instead.' Camélia, one of the L.A. Times' 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles, is closed tonight. It barely began its dinner service on Tuesday before receiving word of the curfew, whose square-mile zone also included the French-Japanese bistro's corner of the Arts District. 'It was a huge scramble and very stressful for the staff to try to figure out what to do in the moment,' said co-owner Courney Kaplan. 'We decided today, let's just take a day, regroup and get a sense of what our next steps are going to be.' Via a large group text between the restaurant's owners, chefs and managers, the team solidified their game plan. They will pivot to a new lunch service and happy hour while under curfew, operating from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. and offering a streamlined menu of some of their most popular items: a croque Madame, the dry-aged burger, salads and beyond, with nightly happy hour specials that could include oysters and sparkling drinks. Read more: An Arts District hub redefines the bistro for Los Angeles They toyed with the idea of selling bottled cocktails or flipping part of the space to a wine shop. To Kaplan and her business partner, chef-owner Charles Namba — who also own and operate Echo Park restaurants Tsubaki and Ototo — these pivots are all too familiar. 'I'm having kind of intense flashbacks to March 2020, where we just need to try it and be flexible,' Kaplan said, 'and if we need to then pivot to something else, making sure that we're able to do that as well.' Kaplan and Namba began to see business drop off at Camélia as soon as the protests began, with guests canceling reservations and calling with questions about how to access the restaurant with road closures. Over the weekend, Kaplan estimates that Camélia lost roughly 40% of its revenue. As the week began the figure jumped to as much as 60%. Read more: The shocking state of the restaurant industry: 'We can't afford to be open. We can't afford to be closed.' After facing years of financial and operational setbacks marked by slow pandemic recovery, the city's economic fallout from entertainment-industry strikes, inflation and increases to minimum wage, the restaurant industry is seeing an onslaught of closures. In early 2025, the Altadena and Palisades fires wrought more fiscal trouble to restaurants throughout the city. 'The amount of stress that's brought on all of our coworkers and everybody on the team is almost unprecedented,' Kaplan said, adding, '[The industry] has just taken such a beating over the past few years that I really do hope people will come back and support small businesses,' she said. 'I'm just hoping for the best for our city and our community right now.' Sign up for our Tasting Notes newsletter for restaurant reviews, Los Angeles food-related news and more. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Reuters
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Trump wants to 'liberate' Los Angeles, residents say 'no thanks'
June 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump says he sent in the National Guard and Marines to "liberate" Los Angeles from the violence of protesters, but some residents of Little Tokyo, a neighborhood hit hardest by the unrest say "no thanks" Mr President. A dozen people who live, work or frequent the neighborhood, where Japanese is heard spoken as frequently as English in shops and restaurants, on Tuesday told Reuters that Trump's use of the military was inflaming the protests against recent immigration raids in Los Angeles. "The president sending in the National Guard and Marines has only made things worse, it's made the protesters go crazy," said Sulieti Havili, who lives nearby and helps run a Pokemon club with over 6,000 members that routinely plays in Little Tokyo. "They are doing nothing to protect this community." Havili, 25, who was out picking up trash in Little Tokyo with her Pokemon club partner Nolberto Aguilar, 42, said it was clear to her that Trump sending in thousands of military personnel had "brought out the worst in the protesters" and only served to aggravate the situation. Aguilar added that Trump's deployment of troops was thwarting the will of most Los Angeles citizens and local leaders, fanning the flames created by ICE immigration raids, that he said targeted law-abiding immigrants. The Trump administration says its immigration raids are rounding up de facto criminals for lacking proper documents to stay in the United States. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the use of military personnel to combat the protests had "inflamed a combustible situation" and warned that "democracy is under assault." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has said that Trump's use of troops was a deliberate effort to create "chaos." The Trump administration strongly rejects the accusations and says their actions were needed in the face of local and state leaders inability to get the situation under control. Little Tokyo, a charming neighborhood with shops selling Japanese goods and restaurants serving up some of the city's finest sushi, abuts the federal buildings where protesters have gathered for five nights in a row. For the past two nights, when police and National Guard troops have forcibly dispersed protesters in the early evening, demonstrators scatter into smaller groups into Little Tokyo, which has been covered with anti-ICE and anti-Trump graffiti. Running skirmishes well into the night in the neighborhood has seen police use booming flash-bangs and firing other "less lethal" munitions at protesters. Several of those interviewed in Little Tokyo asked that they not be named, saying they feared reprisals - from the federal government. Many were immigrants themselves or had family members who were not born in the U.S., and feared making themselves or their loved ones targets of ICE. One of those was Anthony, who works at a tea shop in the neighborhood. "There is no question that the president sending in thousands of National Guard and 700 Marines has done nothing but make the protesters more aggressive," he said. "It's instigating the protesters and making things worse." Samantha Lopez, a descendent of Filipino immigrants who works at a Korean ice cream parlor in Little Tokyo, said she felt empathy for the demonstrators but rejected any acts of vandalism or violence they carry out. Still, she blamed the use of military personnel for creating the unrest. "It's just poor handling of protests that stay peaceful until they're confronted by officers," Lopez said. "It's bad for business, and it's bad for this neighborhood."
