Kindness of a Stranger

Re “Last Picture Show in Little Tokyo,” Kevin Thomas’ Oct. 31 article on the closing of the Little Tokyo Cinemas: I shall always remember the kindness of movie exhibitor Moto Yokoyama when I first took my mother--who was in a wheelchair following a stroke--to the Little Tokyo Cinemas.

Yokoyama came to me and said, “Whenever you come to this theater, I want you and your mother to come in free.” He then explained how his own mother had helped him finance his original Japanese theater on Crenshaw Boulevard and how he always thinks of her kindness when he sees an older woman who needs help. Later he gave us tea and cookies.

The joy he brought to me and my mother, Joanne Iwata, who died last Dec. 4, cannot be expressed.

CHERI M. SAKAI

Culver City