Little Tokyo and the Arts District

A compact loop through Little Tokyo, a National Historic Landmark district and the cultural centre of Japanese Americans in Southern California: the Japanese American National Museum, the Go For Broke Monument to Japanese American soldiers of WWII, MOCA's Geffen Contemporary, Japanese Village Plaza, Isamu Noguchi's plaza at the JACCC and the Higashi Honganji temple, ending in the converted warehouses of the Arts District.

Best time: Weekend afternoon; check museum hours before you go

The route, stop by stop

1. 1
   Little Tokyo/Arts District station

   A and E Line station rebuilt for the Regional Connector (opened June 2023).

2. 2
   Japanese American National Museum

   Founded 1992, a Smithsonian affiliate devoted to Japanese American history (Wikipedia). 75 min.

3. 3
   Go For Broke Monument

   Memorial to Japanese Americans who served in the US Army in WWII, designed by Roger M. Yanagita, chosen from 138 other entries (Wikipedia). 10 min.

   Dedicated in 1999 to the Japanese American soldiers of World War II, many of whom enlisted while their families were held in incarceration camps. The curved black stone wall…

4. 4
   The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

   MOCA's original space in a Little Tokyo warehouse, first meant as a temporary gallery while the Grand Avenue building went up (Wikipedia). 45 min.

5. 5
   Japanese Village Plaza

   Pedestrian street (OpenStreetMap) at the centre of Little Tokyo. 20 min.

6. 6
   Japanese American Cultural and Community Center

   Community centre built 1978-1983 by Issei and Nisei leaders, with a multi-level brick plaza designed by Isamu Noguchi (LA Conservancy). 15 min.

7. 7
   Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple

   Working Buddhist temple at 505 E 3rd St; look at the temple front from the street. 5 min.

8. 8
   Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles

   Contemporary art gallery at 901 E 3rd St in the Arts District, the early-20th-century industrial zone east of Alameda St that has filled with galleries and studios (Wikipedia). 30 min.

   A commercial gallery that feels like a museum: the restored Globe Mills flour mill complex (opened 2016), 116,000 square feet holding up to three exhibitions at a time, from…

Walking directions

More walks in Los Angeles

• Broadway: the Historic Core and its movie palaces1.9 km · 2 h
• El Pueblo, Union Station and Chinatown2.3 km · 3 h 15 min
• Bunker Hill: library, steps, Angels Flight and Grand Avenue2.8 km · 4 h 25 min
• Silver Lake stairways: Micheltorena to the Music Box Steps4.3 km · 3 h 5 min
• Griffith Park: Fern Dell up to the Observatory, down to the Greek2.8 km · 2 h 50 min
• Hollywood Boulevard beyond the stars: movie palaces and old Hollywood2.1 km · 1 h 50 min
• Venice canals, Abbot Kinney and the boardwalk to Santa Monica Pier7.1 km · 3 h 50 min
• Old Pasadena to the Colorado Street Bridge3.3 km · 3 h 55 min