One Saturday in J-town

A few Saturdays ago, my husband Tony, 3-year old daughter Maiya and I went to J-town to a Reunion at Far East Cafe Reunion hosted by Raymond and Michael Chong (see June 13 post Far East Cafe).

Me, Ray, Michael, Tony, Maiya

It was a really nice event. On his own, Ray is researching and documenting the history of the Far East Cafe and talked about his dad's connection to the Far East Cafe as a worker for decades. They set up a camera for videotaping people's memories. It was pretty cool.

After the lunch, we walked out of the Far East Cafe and Maiya said, "Mommy, I wish to get manju." So, we walked down First Street and stopped into Fugetsudo to pick up some of Korey's Chocolate Manju.

Inside Fugetsudo

Flash back to when I was growing up, my family went to Far East Cafe once a month, on 2nd Sundays. About 5 years ago, I wrote a column for the Rafu Shimpo--"Valley Girl's Memories of Far East Cafe." At the end of the piece, I wrote that my dream would be to one day take my children to J-town to the Little Tokyo Rec Center, eat at Far East Cafe, and walk down First Street, stopping for manju. With the exception of the not-yet-realized Little Tokyo Rec Center and the "one child," not "children," that's pretty much what happened.

With all the changes happening in Little Tokyo these days, I just hope that when Maiya grows up, that she will be able to have her own meaningful experiences and memories in our J-town.