Earlier this year, the Little Tokyo community was shocked to learn that Suehiro Cafe, a beloved, long-time Japanese American restaurant, was being evicted from Historic 1st Street North by landlord Tony Sperl. This shock turned to outrage as the community discovered that Tony Sperl had recently filed paperwork to establish a marijuana dispensary and expressed a desire to make Little Tokyo resemble Melrose Avenue.1 The imminent eviction of Suehiro Cafe is only the latest injustice in Little Tokyo’s long-standing battle against the gentrification and displacement of our community, dating back to our mass incarceration during World War II.
In response, a coalition of Little Tokyo community organizations held a rally calling for Justice for Suehiro and Fight Gentrification on Sunday, December 10th, 2pm, at the Little Tokyo / Arts District Metro Station on 1st and Alameda. The rally featured several speakers who have fought or are currently fighting against gentrification in Little Tokyo and the broader Downtown and East Los Angeles communities. The rally culminated in a march to Suehiro Cafe’s historic location on First Street North.2
The following are synopses of selected speeches provided during the rally:
Nancy Uyemura, an artist who lived at the 800 Traction building for over 30 years, was instrumental in developing a vibrant Japanese American community of artists and activists in the area, now known as the Arts District. Nancy and fellow residents fought the eviction by DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (a real estate giant and past affiliate of Credit Suisse, a company with questionable human rights records), but were finally forced to leave their long-time home, studios and community, where they once “created and worked, made art and celebrated life.”
Francine Imai shared about being the granddaughter of a thriving business owner in pre-WWII Little Tokyo. Francine’s mother was one of the Sakura ICF residents evicted after its sale by Keiro to for-profit Pacifica for development into market-rate apartments. Sadly, she passed away from transfer trauma soon after her relocation.
Joyce Valenzuela spoke about her father who immigrated to the US as a contract worker in the grape fields, then working in Little Tokyo for over 35 years first as a day laborer and eventually obtaining his stockbroker’s license. After a fall, he lived at Sakura ICF prior to his forced transfer to Kei-Ai LA (also sold by Keiro to Pacifica), where he nearly died from COVID. Joyce and her family were never informed that Kei-Ai LA was a COVID-patient admitting facility.
Rev. Ray Fukumoto reflected that gentrification is a type of gradual cultural genocide by pointing out the disappearance of the real anchors of our community who have been evicted or marginalized in Little Tokyo, our Japanese American people. This has resulted in temple relocations and loss of “Japanese” churches, closure of the Sakura ICF (formally Keiro ICF, before the sale) and now the eminent forced closure of Suehiro Café by Anthony Sperl. He called for a need to unify and make those like Sperl work with the community to make a respectful difference in one of the last J-Towns in the United States.
Miyako Kadogawa is a Sansei, and is Co-President of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of JACL (Japanese American Citizens League). Los Angeles has been her home for 62 years. She is a supporter of Suehiro Japanese Restaurant. “Landlord Anthony Sperl lied for the reason to evict Suehiro. Mr. Kenji Suzuki paid the rent as he has done for decades; as his parents for decades since more than 50 years ago. Then Sperl falsely declares that he never received the rent, and gives the reason for eviction, as non-payment of rent. How dare he say that. This is wrong, This is immoral. This is unethical. It must even be illegal. Sperl does not have any idea of what Japanese Culture is. We are honest and conscientious. We are diligent workers. We honor hour elders. Sperl wants to change Little Tokyo. How dare he. Little Tokyo is a Historic Landmark. Little Tokyo is our home for generations for us Japanese heritage people. I certainly will pledge NOT to patronize any smoke shop or any other products and services that is not a fit in our Little Tokyo Community.”
All of the speakers lamented on the gradual dismantling of a vibrant and living Japanese American community that was once Little Tokyo.
Our coalition is prepared to wage a long-term battle against gentrification. The promise of increased foot traffic from the new Little Tokyo / Arts District Metro Station motivated Tony Sperl to evict Suehiro Cafe for a more trendy enterprise, and we believe other landlords are likely to follow suit with more evictions and rent hikes. Incoming developments such as the Continuum Partners Cold Storage project at 4th St and Alameda threaten to fundamentally reshape the character of Little Tokyo. 3 Our coalition will assist any Little Tokyo community member fighting displacement.
We demand Tony Sperl to stop the eviction of Suehiro Cafe. We demand all landlords in Little Tokyo to cease displacing our community members and to respect the will of our community before allowing new businesses into Little Tokyo. We reject any attempt to transform Little Tokyo into another “Melrose Avenue”.
J-Town Action と Solidarity
Save Our Seniors Network
Greater Los Angeles JACL
1 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-03/historic-suehiro-eviction
2 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-13/heritage-little-tokyo
https://abc7.com/little-tokyo-suehiro-cafe-eviction-restaurant/14164705/
3 https://la.urbanize.city/post/downtown-continuum-partners-fourth-central-david-adjaye
Summary of Speech Suehiro Rally December 10, 2023 Below is a summary of the speech delivered at the rally.
Artist Nancy Uemura lived in the 800 Traction Building for more than 30 years. Artists and activists helped develop a vibrant Japanese American community in what is now known as the Arts District. Despite this, Nancy and many other residents of the building are campaigning against the eviction of DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, a large real estate company and former affiliate of Credit Suisse. However, in the end I was forced to leave.
Francine Imai is the granddaughter of a Japanese business owner who thrived in Little Tokyo before World War II. Francine’s mother was one of the residents who were forced to leave Sakura ICF (Intermediate Nursing Facility) when it was sold by Keirosha to Pacifica, a for-profit company, with plans to rebuild it into market-rate apartments. . Sadly, she passed away shortly after her relocation from the trauma of her relocation (her lack of language and food).
Joyce Valenzuela talked about her father, who immigrated to the United States as a contract laborer in a vineyard and then worked as a day laborer in Little Tokyo for more than 35 years, eventually becoming a certified stockbroker. After my father fell ill, he lived at Sakura ICF, but was then forcibly and recklessly transferred to Keiro Los Angeles (LA) (also sold by Keiro to Pacifica), where he almost died from the coronavirus. Mr. Joyce and his family were not informed that Keiai-LA was a state-certified facility for coronavirus patients.
Monsignor Ray Fukumoto points out that Japanese Americans, who are the original core of our community, have been forced to leave Little Tokyo or have been marginalized, and are gradually disappearing. , pointed out that gentrification is a kind of slow cultural genocide. The result has been the relocation of temples, the disappearance of “Japanese” churches, the closure of Sakura ICF (officially known as Keiai-ICF before it was sold), and the forced closure of Suehiro Cafe by Anthony Speer. . Monsignor Fukumoto is asking people like Mr. Spell to understand and respect these communities and bring about change, with respect for one of America’s last Japan (J) towns. He called for the need to cooperate and develop each other.
Miyako Kadokawa is a third generation and co-chair of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). Los Angeles has been her home for 62 years. She is also a supporter of Suehiro, a Japanese restaurant. “Landlord Anthony Speer is lying to get Suehiro out.” Restaurant owner Kenji Suzuki has been lying for decades, starting more than 50 years ago. He has been paying rent, just like his parents, and Mr. Sperle is falsely claiming that he has not received any rent and is evicting him for not paying rent. “You can say things like ‘unpaid.’ This is wrong. It’s unethical. It’s even illegal!” “Mr. Spell knows nothing about Japanese culture. We are honest, conscientious, and hard-working. We respect our elders.” “Mr. Spell is trying to change Little Tokyo. That’s a good thing. Little Tokyo is a historical building. Little Tokyo has been a familiar place for generations of people of Japanese heritage to live in. I don’t fit in with the Little Tokyo community. I pledge not to favor smoke shops or any other products or services.
All the speakers were concerned about the gradual destruction of the vibrant, living Japanese American community that once was Little Tokyo.