March 27th 2022 O.A.

Terasaki Budokan Grand Open

Saturday, March 12th was the grand opening of the Paul I. Terasaki Budokan.

This multipurpose gym was built by the nonprofit organization providing social services, Little Tokyo Service Center.

Operation began last year but they could not open their doors due to COVID-19, so they finally had the opening ceremony.

Friday the 11th was the ribbon-cutting ceremony with representatives from each organization.
And Saturday the 12th was the grand opening inviting the public.
City and state representatives attended the ceremony and congratulated the accomplishment.

Former NBA player and Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West was also invited, and he stated the importance of this gym.

This project began in 1994 to attract younger people to Little Tokyo, and the total construction cost increased to 33.8 million dollars.
The construction finally finished with the help of government subsidies and donations from public investors.
Akira Fujimoto who has a business in Little Tokyo is one of many who donated to the project.

The gym can be used for sports use as it has two basketball courts and a competition space formartial arts.
The 1st level has a performance stage, a courtyard, and a community room.
The 2nd level has an outdoor terrace with a children’s playground.
55 cars can be parked at their underground parking and is accommodating to different needs of the community.

2 Years with COVID-19 Part 4
JETRO

It has been 2 years since the lockdown in LA due to COVID-19. We asked businesses the challenges they had to face and their future outlooks. We will close this series with Japan External Trade Organization, JETRO.

JETRO is a non-profit organization connecting businesses with the resources they need to successfully expand overseas. They support different businesses from product, technology, to service, and they also put efforts into Japanese food.

That is why JETRO started a showroom in LA last year, introducing Japanese food products to English speaking industry people.

JETRO states Japanese companies aiming to do business abroad must have arrangements to be successful in the age of new normal.