Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9

This week, I am going to combine Little Tokyo in downtown LA with one of the article that I read in Los Angeles Times, “Japanese and Koreans learn to live together in harmony in L.A.'s Little Tokyo”.

I went to downtown LA to meet my friend, Amy. We decided to go to Little Tokyo to have dinner. Little Tokyo is located in downtown Los Angeles. It is a major cultural, historic center for Japanese American. The history of little Tokyo can date back to the 1880s. Little Tokyo has Japanese American National Museum where shows the history of little Tokyo. There are also numerous Japanese restaurants that cater people who love Japanese cuisine. Such as ramen, sushi, shabu-shabu, Japanese curry, etc. we chose one of the famous restaurants in little Tokyo—DAIKOKUYA Ramen. I have been to this place couple times, this place is so popular that you have to wait literally at least one hour to have a seat. Since we were waiting for our seats, we walked around Little Tokyo and got some groceries in the Japanese market. After we got our seats (1.5 hours), my friend and I both ordered the most popular dish in DAIKOKUYA-- Daikokuya Ramen. The noodles were cooked to the perfect texture and the broth was rich, creamy and earthy. The pork was tender and savory. The ramen tastes so good that it worth the wait!!

the view of little tokyo

DAIKOKUYA Ramen(everyone is waiting..)

so declicious! yum yum

After I came back from little Tokyo, I read an article in LA Times, “Japanese and Koreans learn to live together in harmony in L.A.'s Little Tokyo”, which is talking about the conflict between Japanese and Korean. In the contents, the Japanese complained that, "They smell of garlic." "They don't follow the rules." "They are going to take over." On the other hand, the Koreans, "The Japanese are snooty." "They don't greet you in the elevator." "They disdain Korean culture." "They're trying to push us out." Those comments are stereotypes between Korean and Japanese people. More and more Korean related stores are moving to little Tokyo; for example, Korean restaurants and Korean markets. It leads to more and more Koreans extend their living area, from Korean town to little Tokyo. Due to more and more facilities in Koreantown are overcrowded and Koreans feel more comfortable in an Asian environment than a white or a Latino one.  However, due to the historical factors, Japanese and Korean do not welcome each other. There is an example that fully conveys the conflict between Japan and Korea. Kim, as a Korean in japan, he always felt isolated; however, when he returned to South Korea for military service at 23, hoping to find a full sense of belonging, he said he was derided as a "half-Jap," beaten up and verbally abused every day in the army. 

In class, we have learned that we can define race into two different approaches: biological approach and cultural approach. In this case, both Korean and Japanese are Asians. So in a biological approach, we can say that Korean and Japanese are the same race. However, in a cultural approach, which saying that race is a cultural symbol. In this approach, they are a different race. As the professor mentioned in the lecture, “cultural signifier”, like hairstyle, make up, gesture, etc. these are some of the example that can explain people from Korea and Japan are different.  From the article, it is easy to see that even they are all Asians, these two groups of people could not live with each other happily before the policy changed, and it is interesting that this happened in downtown Los Angels little Tokyo.  Nowadays, people are trying to live peacefully with different cultures and races. In this case, understanding the difference and compensating each other are ways to learn to live together in harmony in L.A.'s Little Tokyo.