Anth 338 Research Paper
Prof. Bodoh-Creed
Anth 338 – Section 1
February 27, 2012
On an ordinary Saturday afternoon, my sister and I made our way to 1st St. and Central Ave. from a failed attempt at another left-to-be-unnamed cultural epicenter, which was a very disappointing trip. Little Tokyo proved to be quite the opposite, as I was able to ascertain a much deeper understanding of the Japanese culture because of it, and at the same time was able to reflect on the differences and similarities of my Filipino heritage. From what I was able to gather, the Japanese and Filipino cultures have quite a few significant differences, but have more similarities than I originally anticipated.
As the name would suggest, Little Tokyo is fairly little, with its borders spanning a radius of only a few blocks. Walking from one end of the town to the other took no more than five minutes. That afternoon, we started our trip right in the middle of all the activity, into the mouth of a little alley known as the Japanese Village Plaza. People were walking in and out of cosmetic stores, bakeries, bars, gift shops, a brightly lit Sanrio store, cafes, a market, and a number of restaurants serving sushi, shabu shabu, ramen, even Korean barbeque. Many of these shops were playing traditional Japanese music, and interestingly, almost all of the employees that worked in these shops were women. The same could be said about the restaurants, as many of the servers were also women. The chefs on the other hand were all men, which may be one aspect of gender roles in the neighborhood. The Japanese had great pride in serving the food they prepared, something my sister and I noticed while eating at one of the more traditional ramen houses. There was a mixture of different kinds of people that afternoon: several Caucasians and Hispanics, a handful African-Americans, and of course plenty of Asians. There was also a sense of fusion about the Plaza between the East and West. For example, price tags were typically displayed
Anth 338 – Section 1
February 27, 2012
On an ordinary Saturday afternoon, my sister and I made our way to 1st St. and Central Ave. from a failed attempt at another left-to-be-unnamed cultural epicenter, which was a very disappointing trip. Little Tokyo proved to be quite the opposite, as I was able to ascertain a much deeper understanding of the Japanese culture because of it, and at the same time was able to reflect on the differences and similarities of my Filipino heritage. From what I was able to gather, the Japanese and Filipino cultures have quite a few significant differences, but have more similarities than I originally anticipated.
As the name would suggest, Little Tokyo is fairly little, with its borders spanning a radius of only a few blocks. Walking from one end of the town to the other took no more than five minutes. That afternoon, we started our trip right in the middle of all the activity, into the mouth of a little alley known as the Japanese Village Plaza. People were walking in and out of cosmetic stores, bakeries, bars, gift shops, a brightly lit Sanrio store, cafes, a market, and a number of restaurants serving sushi, shabu shabu, ramen, even Korean barbeque. Many of these shops were playing traditional Japanese music, and interestingly, almost all of the employees that worked in these shops were women. The same could be said about the restaurants, as many of the servers were also women. The chefs on the other hand were all men, which may be one aspect of gender roles in the neighborhood. The Japanese had great pride in serving the food they prepared, something my sister and I noticed while eating at one of the more traditional ramen houses. There was a mixture of different kinds of people that afternoon: several Caucasians and Hispanics, a handful African-Americans, and of course plenty of Asians. There was also a sense of fusion about the Plaza between the East and West. For example, price tags were typically displayed