00:06Nathan Masters: Wow, so this has
00:07been here since 1903?
00:08Woman: That's correct.
00:09Masters: That's amazing.
00:10Woman: So a lot of these are
00:11called--they're mochi, and so
00:13it's pounded sweet rice, and
00:15then there's a filling, and then
00:16Fugetsu-Do also has some of
00:18their more modern creations,
00:20too, like the strawberry one,
00:22and they also have a peanut
00:24Masters: Ooh, I love peanut
00:25butter. Ha ha! Should I get
00:26that? I mean, this business has
00:28been here for almost 120 years.
00:31Woman: That's right.
00:32Masters: astounding for, like,
00:33really, any business in Los
00:34Angeles, but this business
00:35survived the incarcerations.
00:37Woman: That's right, yeah, and
00:38we also heard that the family
00:39was making these treats inside
00:43of Heart Mountain, Wyoming,
00:45concentration camps.
00:46Masters: Inside one of the
00:48Woman: That's right.
00:49Woman: They were taking sugar
00:50rations from other people and
00:51making this in camp, so it's--
00:52Masters: So this is a resilient
01:11Masters: This episode of "Lost
01:13L.A." was made possible in part
01:15by the California State Library
01:18and the Frieda Berlinski
01:25Should we try these?
01:27Woman: Yes, please. Yeah.
01:31Masters: Mm. Mm. That's really
01:35good, so this family has been
01:37operating this business since
01:381903. Do you know, you know,
01:39where did they land after
01:42Woman: So in talking with Brian
01:44Kito--who's, I think, the
01:45third-generation manju and
01:47mochi maker--he was saying that
01:49when his family returned to Los
01:50Angeles from Heart Mountain,
01:52Wyoming, he said his family
01:53didn't have a lot of money, and
01:54so they stayed at a hostel which
01:56was operated out of Koyasan
01:57Buddhist Temple, which is right
02:00Masters: A hostel. OK.
02:02Woman: That's right. Several of
02:03the religious organizations
02:05operated hostels and allowed
02:07people to stay there until they
02:08could sort of get back onto
02:09their feet, so Koyasan was one
02:11location, and then, we'll point
02:13out, Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist
02:15Temple also operated a hostel.
02:19I should point out, across
02:20the street is Bunkado.
02:22It's a gift shop, and that
02:24opened soon after the war and
02:26has been in operation ever
02:27since, so there are quite a few
02:29businesses here that opened,
02:30you know, right after.
02:32Masters: After the war. I mean,
02:33it's astounding, really, like,
02:34despite all of the challenges,
02:37that Little Tokyo was able to
02:38bounce back, and it's still,
02:40I mean, a vibrant place today.
02:42Woman: Exactly, yeah, so it was
02:43really the community sort of
02:44banding together to help people
02:46restart their lives, but there
02:48are a few individuals that I
02:49think stuck their necks out,
02:51really, and advocated for
02:53Japanese Americans, and one
02:54person in particular that I'm
02:56thinking about is Hugh Macbeth,
02:57who was a Black civil rights
02:59attorney, very prominent, who
03:01lived in the Crenshaw area--
03:05which was, you know,
03:07historically, there was a
03:08Japanese American population
03:09there--and as soon as Pearl
03:13Harbor was attacked and Japanese
03:15immigrants were picked up, Hugh
03:17Macbeth was out there writing
03:18letters of support to try to get
03:20a lot of Japanese issei men out
03:23of prison. He was trying to
03:27prevent the forced removal from
03:28happening and then continued
03:31his work after the war,
03:32including hiring a young
03:35attorney named Chiyoko Sakamoto.
03:37Masters: A Japanese American
03:39Woman: That's correct. She was
03:41the first Japanese American--
03:43I think Asian American woman to
03:45be accepted to the California
03:46State Bar, and before the war,
03:49her office was actually right in
03:50this building, which is now part
03:53of the Japanese American
03:56Masters: What happened to Little
03:57Tokyo while its Japanese
03:59American residents were
04:00incarcerated, the vacant homes
04:02and shops were soon filled by
04:03Black families migrating from
04:04the South attracted by defense
04:06industry jobs. It gave the
04:08neighborhood a different vibe
04:09and a different name--
04:10Bronzeville, but that lasted
04:12just a few years. After the war
04:14Japanese families returned, and
04:16Bronzeville faded away.
04:20Woman: Well, welcome to JANM's
04:22collection. I will say that we
04:25don't have a lot related to the
04:27early postwar period...
04:28Masters: Oh, interesting.
04:29Woman: and I don't think we
04:30talk enough about the early
04:32postwar period and just how
04:33difficult it was for people to
04:35restart their lives. You know,
04:37we started talking about Chiyoko
04:40Woman: Chiyoko's parents and her
04:41older sister emigrated from
04:43Japan in the early 20th century,
04:45and Chiyoko was born here
04:47along with two other brothers.
04:49This is a pendant, I guess, from
04:53Master: The scales of Justice.
04:54Woman: We also have her law
04:58masters: I mean, a collection
04:59like this makes this story that
05:02you tell about somebody just so
05:03much more personal, too.
05:04Woman: Exactly, yeah, so Chiyoko
05:06lived with her brother in the
05:08Seinan neighborhood near
05:10Crenshaw, which translates
05:12to Southwest Los Angeles.
05:15She lived within a few miles of
05:16Hugh Macbeth. Chiyoko and her
05:19family were forcibly removed
05:21from Los Angeles, ultimately to
05:23Amache, which was one of the
05:25concentration camps in Colorado,
05:27and they eventually came back to
05:29Los Angeles, and Chiyoko did not
05:31think she would restart her
05:32law career, but Hugh Macbeth,
05:35who had been championing for
05:37Japanese Americans throughout
05:38the war, hired her to work in
05:41his law firm, so they had an
05:44office in the Crenshaw area, and
05:47they also had an office in
05:48Downtown Los Angeles.
05:51Masters: Oh, these are her
05:53Woman: That's right. Yeah.
05:55Masters: Oh. "Chiyoko Sakamoto,
05:583324 West Jefferson Boulevard."
06:02What's interesting is that it
06:04seems like the story of
06:07Japanese Americans returning
06:09from the incarceration, there
06:11seemed to be a lot of
06:11intersections with the Black
06:13community here in Los Angeles,
06:15and you said that, presumably,
06:18What was the name of this
06:20neighborhood, the Crenshaw area,
06:23Masters: Seinan. OK, so this is
06:25where a lot of those
06:26intersections happened?
06:27Woman: That's correct. Yeah.
06:28Masters: I see, so today we
06:30think of Crenshaw as a, you
06:32know, historically African
06:33American neighborhood within Los
06:35Angeles, but there was a big
06:36Japanese American component
06:38Woman: That's correct.
06:40Masters: Black and Japanese
06:41Americans coexisted in Crenshaw,
06:43and they helped each other,
06:44joining forces to challenge
06:45racial covenants designed to
06:46keep non-whites out of many
06:48neighborhoods, and they
06:49succeeded. In May of 1948,
06:51the Supreme Court outlawed
06:53racial covenants everywhere.
06:55The neighborhood hotspot in
06:57Crenshaw was the Holiday Bowl.
06:58Even if you didn't bowl,
07:00everyone gathered there for
07:02coffee, birthday parties, or
07:03just to be with friends. The
07:05Bowl closed in 2000, but a
07:07waitress who worked there opened
07:09up a coffee shop a few blocks
07:10away. Tak's Coffee Shop is still
07:12in business. It was the perfect
07:14place to sit down with Nobuko
07:16Miyamoto. She grew up in
07:17Crenshaw and continues to be a
07:19part of the community.
07:21Miyamoto: Hello. How are you?
07:23Woman: Thank you. Ready to
07:25Miyamoto: I would like saimin.
07:28Masters: Yeah. I'll have the
07:31Miyamoto: Without rice?
07:32Masters: Yeah. Sorry. No rice,
07:34Woman: OK. Thank you.
07:38Masters: Let's start with the
07:39war, World War II. What was your
07:43family situation during the war?
07:45Miyamoto: So I was a baby, and
07:48we were uprooted and sent to
07:51Santa Anita Racetrack, where
07:53there were more than 10,000
07:55people, I think, at the height
07:56with, you know, sleeping on the
07:58floor with straw mattresses,
08:02Masters: And then what happened
08:05Miyamoto: It was careful
08:06transition coming back.
08:08A lot of people lived in the
08:10temples, like the Buddhist
08:11temples, or shelters...
08:14Miyamoto: while people found
08:15places to live, tried to find a
08:17job, et cetera, and we were
08:19reviled. You know, Japanese
08:21people were afraid to leave
08:23the--you know, to go shopping
08:25by themselves. It was not a
08:27comforting place to be after the
08:29war to be out. I mean, it wasn't
08:31war to be out. I mean, it wasn't
08:32comforting to be locked up, but
08:34it wasn't easy coming out.
08:36It was just as hard.
08:37Masters: We're talking about
08:40Miyamoto: Yes. When we came
08:41back, we lived with friends and
08:43family until we finally could
08:49Masters: I mean, I can only
08:50imagine what this must have felt
08:51like, having suffered this, you
08:52know, indignity or civil
08:54injustice and then to come back
08:55and now you're living, what, in
08:57fear of attacks, violence
09:02Miyamoto: I think some people
09:04did have physical fear...
09:10discrimination, I think it was
09:11very hard for Japanese men,
09:13especially, to get jobs.
09:15Miyamoto: It might have been a
09:16little bit easier for the
09:17women--they weren't as
09:18threatening--but every Japanese
09:21man I ever met in those days,
09:23they were gardeners.
09:25Masters: So where did your
09:26family end up moving to? You
09:28said you moved in very close
09:30Miyamoto: Yes, Second Avenue and
09:33Miyamoto: We had a friend, a
09:34family friend, who offered a
09:36room in their house...
09:39Miyamoto: and it was just me and
09:40my mother and father at that
09:42time. My mother was really
09:45smart, and she tried to get me
09:47into good schools, and so
09:49eventually, I got a scholarship
09:51at American School of Dance in
09:53Hollywood, so that gave me the
09:56ability at a very young age to
09:58start working--I think I was
09:5915--in a movie called "The King
10:02Masters: Oh, oh, just a little
10:03movie called "The King and I."
10:05Miyamoto: Yeah, just a little
10:06movie, yeah, with Yul Brynner.
10:08Miyamoto: Yeah. Yeah.
10:13Chorus: [Indistinct]
10:16Miyamoto: It was sort of
10:17magical, you know, for a young
10:19person. We knew we were people
10:22of color, you know? We had to be
10:24better than other people to get
10:25a job. In fact, when I got a
10:27scholarship, I was told, "In
10:28order for you to make a living
10:30as a dancer, you have to be
10:32twice as good as everybody
10:35If you're Japanese--and my name
10:37at that time was not Nobuko;
10:40they called me Joanne--
10:42we wanted to be Western.
10:43We wanted to be accepted as
10:45"Americans," so the idea of
10:49neighborhood, you know, and
10:50being able to be in this bigger
10:51world of the movies or bigger
10:53world of, you know, theater or
10:54whatever, it was a push to get
10:56out of the community, to go
10:57beyond the community, not to be
10:59stuck here because we had to be
11:01Masters: So you'd been
11:02displaced, and you sort of found
11:04a home, made a home here in the
11:07Crenshaw area, but it was a
11:09home that you wanted to move
11:12Miyamoto: And nobody wants
11:13to feel that they have to live
11:14somewhere just because there
11:15are, you know, discrimination
11:17and you can't live somewhere
11:20Miyamoto: so you want to raise
11:21up. You want to raise yourself
11:22up. You want to be the exception
11:23to the rule, but eventually,
11:25people started leaving this
11:26area, even though there are
11:29certain markers here that we
11:31hoped would never disappear,
11:32like a Holiday Bowl. That place,
11:36I spoke to one of the owners
11:37many years after he had--
11:40He was very old, and I said,
11:43"Why did you-- You know, what's
11:44gonna happen to Holiday Bowl
11:46when you, you know, pass?" and
11:49he said, "I want my kids to
11:50take it on, but they don't want
11:52to do it," because the reason
11:54why he did it, he said, "I
11:56wanted a place where people of
11:58all colors and all kinds could
12:00come together and have a good
12:02Masters: That's what Holiday
12:04Miyamoto: Yes. Well, first of
12:05all, in the Sixties, late
12:07Sixties, and the Seventies--on
12:09the back wall was a brick wall,
12:11and on it was written huge,
12:16Miyamoto: and then you walk in,
12:18and there would be a Black
12:20league bowling, you know, and
12:21you go in the coffee shop, which
12:23was like this, and you would eat
12:25your noodles like this, and you
12:26go out, and there would be a
12:28Japanese bowling league, so it
12:30would be like this revolving
12:31door of Black and Japanese
12:33people having fun in their
12:37It was really a gathering place
12:39where it didn't have borders the
12:43way we do it in the bigger
12:46Miyamoto: That's what was so
12:47beautiful about it, and that's
12:48what made us very sad when it
12:50went down. That was something
12:52we never thought would disappear
12:54because we grew up together.
12:56We grew up going to school,
12:57high school, and then when
12:59Asian Americans, when Black
13:01people started rising up--Black
13:03Power, you know, civil rights,
13:05Black Power, et cetera--we all
13:07looked at that and said, "Well,
13:09where are we in this picture?"
13:10Masters: What's your sense of
13:11how the Black community sort of
13:14looked at the experience of
13:17Miyamoto: I helped to make a
13:17film, a documentary drama about
13:21the Black Panthers in 1968.
13:24They recognized that what
13:27happened to Japanese Americans
13:29could happen to them, too, that
13:31we were put in camp. That could
13:33happen to African Americans,
13:35especially political people, as
13:37well. To see that Black people
13:41sort of accepted me as a sister,
13:44too, that they understood that
13:47we had oppression as well as
13:51Miyamoto: it was different than
13:53just being in the community
13:54the way we were growing up.
13:56Now there was political
13:59Miyamoto: Now there was a move
14:00to say, "We can change this. We
14:02need to change our situation."
14:04It was a revelation, really.
14:05They were doing not only
14:08political demonstrations, but
14:10serving people, creating
14:13programs for elders, for youth
14:15who were hooked on drugs. Even
14:18down the street here at
14:19Crenshaw, there was an
14:20organization called the Yellow
14:21Brotherhood, and by that time,
14:25African American, or half and
14:27half. I lived, actually, on
14:29Arlington and Vernon and became
14:33part of Leimert Park and
14:35Brockman Gallery and the art
14:37scene that was going on there,
14:39so my son could go there and see
14:42images of Black people to make
14:46him know that it's normal and
14:48wonderful to be Black...
14:50Masters: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
14:51Miyamoto: and so I have sort of
14:53straddled those two worlds of
14:54the Japanese community and the
14:56Black community in order to be a
15:07Masters: Nick Nagatani played a
15:09big role in the Yellow
15:10Brotherhood that Nobuko
15:11mentioned. It was one of many
15:13organizations demanding change
15:14at a time when many young people
15:16were rising up to celebrate
15:17Black, Chicano, Native American,
15:19and Asian American pride.
15:21Now, you went to school here,
15:24Nagatani: Yeah. I'm a Dorsey
15:26Masters: So when did your family
15:29Nagatani: It was actually in the
15:31Fifties that my mother and
15:34father, who after they were
15:36released from camp, that
15:39ultimately, they came back to
15:41Crenshaw. This Crenshaw was,
15:44like, the hub of the postwar
15:46Japanese American community.
15:48Masters: So the late 1960s,
15:50there was a lot of change sort
15:51of rising up organically from
15:53within the community--Yellow
15:54Brotherhood was founded--but you
15:56weren't here to see a lot of
15:58Nagatani: I was in Vietnam at
16:00the time. I was in the Marine
16:02Masters: Marine Corps, yeah, and
16:03what was that like in Vietnam?
16:05Nagatani: You know, I felt we
16:07had no business being there.
16:09Nagatani: Our primary interest
16:11was just coming back home in
16:15Masters: What was it like to
16:16land back in Crenshaw?
16:17Nagatani: We were defining
16:19ourselves, and we're defining
16:20ourselves as Asian, and, you
16:21know, there was a Black
16:23liberation movement. People were
16:24rising, and that's what I came
16:26back to, and that's what I felt,
16:28and, you know, that was
16:31Masters: So the early 1970s,
16:33there was still a substantial
16:34Japanese American population
16:36coming to this school, attending
16:37this school, but that started to
16:39Nagatani: Yes, and the reason
16:40why it started to change was
16:42when the instituted the busing
16:44program and it gave families an
16:47opportunity to leave Dorsey
16:51High School or the local
16:52schools and send their kids to
16:55other schools in, like, more
16:57suburban or white areas like
16:59Westchester or Palisades.
17:01Most of the families, the
17:03Japanese American families,
17:05unfortunately, you know,
17:06had sent their kids on that
17:08yellow bus out of the community.
17:10Masters: So the ties keeping
17:11everybody together or tied down
17:12to Crenshaw, they started to
17:15Nagatani: Yeah. I think it sent
17:16out a large message like,
17:17"You know what? This
17:18neighborhood is, like, on its
17:20way down," which I didn't feel.
17:23We were judges, attorneys,
17:32Masters: Basketball was a big
17:33part of Nick's life.
17:34He played on the Dorsey High
17:35basketball team, and later,
17:37when he got back from Vietnam,
17:38Nick used his basketball chops
17:40to bring young people together
17:41to revitalize the Yellow
17:43Brotherhood and give Crenshaw
17:44kids a sense of culture and
17:48Wow. It's beautiful.
17:49Nagatani: Well, they really kept
17:54Masters: Clearly. Yeah.
17:55It's been a while since you've
17:57Nagatani: Yeah, yeah.
17:59Nagatani: Look at all the
18:03Masters: Easy layup.
18:04Nagatani: Yeah. Ha ha!
18:09Here we go. Oh, yeah.
18:11Nagatani: Ooh. Money.
18:13Masters: Ooh, Yeah. Ha ha ha!
18:15Nagatani: Money. Money.
18:17Masters: I can't believe I did
18:20So you were getting very
18:22political at the time. Did you
18:24look back and reflect on the
18:26lessons of the incarceration?
18:28Nagatani: Yes, yes, and how it
18:32impacted, you know, our
18:35community, myself, my family,
18:38my neighbors, my friends.
18:40The second generation, what they
18:43wanted to do was, like, to
18:45provide for us to make sure that
18:47we never experienced anything
18:51Nagatani: but in doing so, that
18:53they really instilled in us that
18:57we actually had to be, like,
19:03Masters: Then when you came
19:04back from Vietnam, you were sort
19:05of pushing back against that a
19:08Nagatani: Well, I think I pushed
19:09back against that my whole
19:11Masters: Ha ha ha! Right.
19:12Nagatani: Yeah. When I was
19:14discharged from the service, my
19:16history of being involved in the
19:17Yellow Brotherhood started off
19:20at a place called the Japanese
19:23American Community Service,
19:25called the JACS Office, in
19:27It wasn't about do-gooders, but
19:30it was about doing good and
19:32trying to make a change
19:34in our community, the attitudes,
19:36working for a more of a just
19:38society, you know, human worth
19:41over monetary gain, just saying
19:43that, you know, "Hey, we're part
19:45of this community, too," that,
19:47you know, "very much part of the
19:48community. Don't count us out
19:50because, you know, we have also
19:53something to contribute."
19:56We received a phone call from
19:59some of the kids saying that
20:01there's gonna be a fight after
20:02school between, like, the Asians
20:04and the Blacks, so, you know,
20:06jumped in my car, went out
20:08there, you know, and I just
20:11saw a group of, like--a large
20:13congregation of, like, Japanese
20:15American youth. I recognized one
20:18of the kids that was, you know,
20:21part of that congregation, and
20:24then we started saying, "Hey,
20:25why don't we all just go down to
20:26the YB house, you know, so why
20:28don't you be there tomorrow?"
20:30so the next day, I mean, they
20:33came en masse, and, you know, we
20:35started to, like--you know,
20:37broke up into groups and started
20:38talking about, like, racism,
20:40things going on in the
20:42community, that there was really
20:44not a thriving geographic
20:45Japanese American community,
20:47that there wasn't a lot of,
20:49like, involvement or activities
20:51for youth, so they readily,
20:53like, wanted to be part of
20:55something, a organization, yeah,
20:59so we had, you know--
21:01All together, like, you know, we
21:02were like a fist. We had a lot.
21:04Yeah. We were powerful.
21:08Masters: Leaders like Nick
21:09Nagatani work hard to keep their
21:11communities together, but
21:12nothing lasts forever.
21:14Neighborhoods change, and
21:15Crenshaw was no exception.
21:17Like others before and after,
21:19the Japanese American community
21:20grew, prospered, and looked for
21:22places to expand. Families
21:24wanted less crowding and a sense
21:25of security. By the late
21:27Sixties, nearly all had moved to
21:28the suburbs, but some here still
21:30remember their Japanese American
21:32neighbors, like Joy Simmons, a
21:34longtime Crenshaw resident.
21:36So you went to a Japanese
21:37American school in this
21:39Simmons: Yes. I did--
21:41It was on 12th Avenue and
21:43Jefferson in what we call now
21:45Jefferson Park. I went to
21:47Sixth Avenue Elementary School,
21:49which is down the street, and
21:50there was a big mix of Black
21:52kids and Japanese kids.
21:54My church, Westside Church of
21:56Christ across the street from
21:57that, was also Black and
21:59Masters: So you learned
22:01Simmons: Yes. I did.
22:02Masters: Wow. OK, so you went in
22:03there, though, not knowing...
22:05Masters: any Japanese.
22:06Simmons: I was a regular,
22:079-year-old, Black girl and
22:08whose friends, the girls, were
22:10Japanese, and I said, "Well,
22:11you know, I want to do that,
22:13too, after school," and it was,
22:15like, an after-school program,
22:16and we ran down the street at
22:183:00 to get to the school by
22:203:15, and you went to school
22:22from 3:15 to 4:30 and every day,
22:25Monday through Friday, and
22:26then once I moved from the
22:28neighborhood into View Park,
22:30then I went to Saturday school
22:32Masters: So what made you
22:33decide to go to the school?
22:35Simmons: Because all the other
22:37girls in the neighborhood were
22:39doing it, and I said, "Well, why
22:40not?" I haven't spoken it,
22:42probably, in 45 years.
22:45Masters: But if we were to drop
22:46you in the middle of Tokyo, you
22:47could probably get around.
22:50Simmons: Yeah. I could still get
22:51Masters: I imagine, you know,
22:52living so close together,
22:53going to the same schools,
22:54there must have been a lot of
22:55cultural exchange between the
22:56Black and Japanese communities.
22:58Simmons: Especially-- Yes. That
23:00is correct and especially at
23:01Crenshaw Square, so they always
23:03had Nisei Week, so you had a
23:05big festival. I learned Japanese
23:07dance. You know, the restaurants
23:09are always here. You knew that's
23:11where the culture kind of
23:12exchange was and the little
23:14businesses that were along
23:15Jefferson in particular.
23:17Masters: How about the other
23:18way? Like, how did Black
23:19culture, you know, seeped into
23:21the Japanese community?
23:22Simmons: Because we had the
23:23music, we did this stuff.
23:24We have the parties. It was a
23:25whole thing, so it did.
23:27Masters: What was the sort of
23:28musical landscape here?
23:31Simmons: Oh, this is, like,
23:32still the Motown, that whole
23:33thing, before you got to the
23:35Jimi Hendrix stuff, which is a
23:36little later but, you know, in
23:39addition to the Beatles and the
23:41Monkees and the da da da, all
23:42of that was happening at that
23:43time in junior high school and
23:46Masters: And the Japanese
23:47community took part in that,
23:49Simmons: Oh, for sure. They
23:50were at the parties, could've
23:51had a Japanese boyfriend, OK?
23:52It was a lot of back and
23:54forth at the time, actually.
23:55Masters: You know, today,
23:56Leimert Park, Crenshaw, sort of
23:58known as the heart of Black Los
24:02Masters: I mean, it's, like,
24:03this vibrant cultural center.
24:04Simmons: Making a place, staking
24:07a claim for Black L.A. is
24:08something that's really
24:09important, and to see Leimert
24:11Park particularly with all the
24:13young entrepreneurs putting
24:16businesses here and having these
24:17weekends where everybody comes
24:19out, it's important...
24:22Masters: It's wonderful.
24:23Simmons: and it's exciting.
24:23Masters: So the community,
24:25including yourself through
24:26Destination Crenshaw, in some
24:28ways, you're trying to preserve
24:29a little bit of what was in the
24:32Masters: How does the Japanese
24:34American history fit into that?
24:35Simmons: I think the
24:36architecture and keeping
24:37Crenshaw Square looking the way
24:39that it is but making it
24:40vibrant again. They are still
24:42some small, Japanese businesses
24:43that are still. Tak's is
24:46Simmons: I wish someone would go
24:47in and take Grace's Bakery,
24:49which is also on Jefferson near
24:50Crenshaw. That used to be a
24:51thing. I mean, if you got a cake
24:53from Grace's Pastry Bakery,
24:56Masters: So we're missing out
24:57Simmons: Yeah--what can I say?--
24:58but really to have that whole
25:00corridor kind of come back
25:02alive, I think, is what's gonna
25:04really hold that place for
25:06Masters: How is the history of
25:08Japanese Americans here
25:09important to, you know, Black
25:12Simmons: It was a very special
25:14time and place, and I think for
25:17those of us who grew up here at
25:19that time, we remember that
25:20really fondly, and I would like
25:23to think that there's some way
25:24for us to do that, to be able to
25:25talk about and get people to
25:27jog their memories that this did
25:30Masters: The people move on. The
25:32stores close, or they change
25:34hands, but here and there, you
25:35see a sign, a plaque, a garden,
25:37little reminders of a Crenshaw
25:40that gave Japanese Americans a
25:41haven, a place to rebuild their
25:44lives after the trauma of World
25:45War II. It was a special time
25:48preserved in the archives and
25:50in the hearts and minds of those
25:52who lived here and still
26:27This episode of "Lost L.A." was
26:29made possible in part by the
26:31California State Library and the
26:34Frieda Berlinski Foundation.
