The end of Mitsuwa Marketplace
The shelves are nearly empty at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. A symbol of the areas boom times for much of its 24 years, the store is closing Sunday. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Kotaro Nonomura, 2, dances in Mitsuwa Marketplaces nearly empty frozen food aisle. The store is set to reopen Feb. 15 -- with an inventory that will include more non-Japanese products -- as the Little Tokyo Galleria Market. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Sakura restaurant inside the marketplace was once a popular gathering spot for Japanese shoppers. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Only a few clerks remain at the marketplace, which was the biggest game in town for Japanese shoppers long before tofu and sushi became common items in California supermarkets. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Masaaki Yoshimoto, manager of Mitsuwa Marketplace, said he was surprised by news of the store’s closure. He said business had picked up in recent years because of the influx of new residents in the area, and that two-thirds of the stores patrons are non-Japanese. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Many see the planned revamp of the market as inevitable but not without pangs of nostalgia. There is some regret in seeing Japanese businesses change and others come in, because it is Little Tokyo, said Chris Aihara, head of the Little Tokyo Community Council. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
