Earlier this week, I inhaled my year’s quota of aerosol paint fumes as I watched some of today’s best Graffiti artists scramble to put the finishing touches on plywood reinforced walls at Little Tokyo’s Hold Up Art. The artfully spray painted walls are part of this month’s “Hi-Graff,” an installation-based street art exposition set to explore the concept of Graffiti as a contemporary art movement.
If you love Japanese food, books or karaoke and can’t make it to actual Tokyo, LA’s Little Tokyo district is the place to be. Though once upon a time this place was home to 30,000 Japanese Americans, these days I wouldn’t call it a neighborhood – too visitor-oriented for that. I’ll agree with the Wikipedia description – it’s more of a cultural center, with temples, museums and a multitude of restaurants, aimed at LA residents and visitors from Japan. Though recent development and growing population of downtown have made for longer lines and a few strange additions to the area, between all the sushi, shabu-shabu and boba tea there’s little time to frown at the recently-erected Sanrio store and Starbuck’s. An abundance of shops, seasonal events, rock shows at The Cocaine and bars will keep entertainment-hungry visitors coming back for fun-filled adventures throughout the year.
