J-Town Get Down

Nisei Week is an important time of the year for most Japanese-Americans, especially for those living in Southern California. It’s a weeklong festival in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, to celebrate friends, family, food, and culture.

As a regular since a youngin’, it’s evident the parade and other events’ participation has started to dwindle down as the years pass by. Not a good sign and definitely disheartening when looking towards the future of the culture.

We used to look forward to the after parties at Oiwake. No thanks to rent spikes and greedy developers, Oiwake as a venue is long gone however the spirit is not. Our aim with the J-Town Get Down is to bring back the night life essence of Nisei Week while reeling in the future leaders back to the city.  Nisei Week has something for the kids and elders and we wanted to fill that gap for young professionals and the like.

Our first function had some bumps along the way but it was a success, at the end of the day we had a blast and we raised money for the Nisei Week Foundation. We hope to make this an annual event, check the video for the recap and see ya next year!

Special thanks:

Wez Nakajima, Justin Shudo, Tony Sugano Jr. , Kevin House, Bar Nirvana, Nisei Week Foundation, Akikoluv, Andrew Takahashi.