With the recent passing of Dean Matsubayashi, the executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), I lost a close colleague and friend, his family lost a dear loved one, and we all lost a fighter for community improvement and social justice....
Diagnosed with brain cancer on Mother’s Day 2018, Dean Matsubayashi continued to lead LTSC despite ongoing medical treatments. As recently as last May, he made a public statement thanking donors for their support of LTSC’s signature project, the Terasaki Budokan, currently under construction. “Dean’s...
WATCH VIDEO Our 4th Annual Straight Outta Little Tokyo Fundraiser is a 80's-90's throwback party organized 100% by volunteers with proceeds benefiting Terasaki Budokan! The entire night is full of live music, DJs, dancing, food and drinks to create new memories with old friends. 2019 SOLT...
Highest steel beam is raised on Little Tokyo gymnasium. Two koinobori flags seemed to swim upward, as a 21-foot, 840-pound white steel beam was lifted high into the air on Friday on the site of the future Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo. A crowd of approximately 150 gathered below...
Gifts from Toshio Handa and Akira Fujimoto keep campaign momentum going in final stretch. Terasaki Budokan, a new gymnasium and community center in Little Tokyo, is being built by the nonprofit community group Little Tokyo Service Center....
Gymnasium scheduled to open in Little Tokyo in spring 2020. Ryan Lee, 30, of Los Angeles has been named to become the permanent head of Terasaki Budokan, a sports and activities complex currently under construction in Little Tokyo, according to Dean Matsubayashi, executive director of Little...
Terasaki Budokan will host a reception for the legendary Wataru “Wat” Misaka on Saturday, June 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Sake Dojo, 333 E. First St. in Little Tokyo. Misaka, now a 94-year-old resident of Utah, became the first person of color...
A book event for “When Women Rule the Court: Gender, Race, and Japanese American Basketball” will be held on Saturday, March 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, 1964 W. 162nd St. in Gardena. Basketball has been an important part of...
Young Japanese Americans learn important lessons on a trip to the wartime internment camp. Let’s get a few kids together and play basketball at Manzanar. This inspiration came in February when my son took a field trip with the Kizuna program and played on the...
On a muggy Thursday morning of August 3rd, Little Tokyo Service Center broke ground for Budokan, its project to provide a recreational, cultural and community center for residents of Little Tokyo and Japanese Americans throughout southern California. MORE THAN JUST A BASKETBALL COURT Not only was...
