VRA LA 2019: Stay at the Conference Hotel in the Historic District of Little Tokyo

Don’t forget to register for VRA LA 2019 at early bird rates!

Next, make your hotel reservations at the Doubletree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown in LA’s Little Tokyo.  Staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.

The VRA LA 2019 conference will be taking place in one of the historic districts of downtown Los Angeles called Little Tokyo (established as such in 1986). As early as 1908, a number of Japanese businesses could be found along a two-block stretch of 1st Street near Los Angeles Street. Some of the original Little Tokyo buildings and restaurants can still be found there. Little Tokyo became the cultural, religious, commercial, and social nucleus for Japanese American communities in the LA region, and it still is, since LA has the largest Japanese American population in North America. At its peak in the 1940s, about 30,000 Japanese Americans lived in Little Tokyo alone, but the WWII incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry caused a diaspora. The conference hotel was part of a later urban renewal, built in 1977 as part of the New Otani chain, it has always been known for its rooftop Japanese garden with remarkable views of the downtown skyline. Many of the rooms also have views as well as traditional Japanese bathtubs and microwaves to reheat the ramen you couldn’t finish at the restaurants nearby. Little Tokyo’s churches, temples, shops, restaurants, and cultural centers create the impression of a small, international town right in the middle of downtown LA.

Art and culture, food and shopping, tend to draw the crowds to Little Tokyo—all walkable from the conference hotel. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center has exhibitions, theatrical performances, and festivals in their facilities and plaza, the latter of which was designed by an Angeleno, Isamu Noguchi. There is public art of interest in the neighborhood, from Noguchi’s “To the Issei” (1982-1984) to the Go for Broke monument (1999) commemorating the Japanese Americans who served in the U.S.Army during WWII (among them, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which is the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history).

The Japanese American National Museum is a short walk down historic 1st Street with the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist temple close by. Opened in 1999, JANM is an affiliate of the Smithsonian with permanent and changing exhibitions documenting 130 years of Japanese American history.  Several tours are offered in the conference schedule, including behind the scenes.

There are many specialized restaurants serving various types of Japanese cuisine in the neighborhood—from donburi to shabu shabu to ramen to yakitori—and sushi’s California roll was born in Little Tokyo at Tokyo Kaikan. The Japanese Village Plaza and other shops scattered around Little Tokyo carry everything from traditional Japanese sweets (wagashi) to Hello Kitty.  Go Little Tokyo and Culture Trip are fun websites to explore for more information.

Among the other LA must-sees near Little Tokyo are the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen facility, the Arts District,  City Hall, and Grand Park as well as MOCA itself, the Broad Museum, the Music Center, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels a little further out. 

All providing many reasons for you to bring your chopsticks and come to VRA LA 2019 in Little Tokyo!

Contributor:

Maureen Burns
Development and Tour Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
IMAGinED Consulting and Archivision