May 22nd 2022 O.A.

Little Tokyo Sparkle

Saturday, May 14th was “Little Tokyo Sparkle Nancy Kikuchi Volunteer Day.

This volunteer started with Little Tokyo resident, Steve Nagano calling out to the community saying “Let’s clean our historical town together.

It was done annually prior to 2019, but had to be canceled due to the impact of COVID-19. The 5th time happened for the first time in 3 years.

About 300 volunteers from local businesses to members from community organizations gathered for the cleanup.

Groups were assigned to an area within the 3 blocks of Little Tokyo to clean.

Volunteers not only picked up trash like cigarette butts but also thoroughly cleaned the windows, scraped waste from the ground, and got rid of graffitis.

Gomi Hiroi Samurai, a group of performers that cleans the streets of Tokyo also came from Japan to participate in the volunteer work.

More than 20 businesses in Little Tokyo had to close their doors due to the pandemic, however liveliness is starting to come back.

Free lunches were distributed with the help of local restaurants and food manufacturers after the volunteer work at Noguchi Plaza.