Straight Outta Little Tokyo

The Japanese American social scene of the late 1980s and early ’90s was recreated on June 4 at Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple for “Straight Outta Little Tokyo: Taking It Back Old Skool,” a fundraiser for Budokan of Los Angeles, a community sports facility to be built in Little Tokyo. Attendees danced to hip-hop music from back in the day. It was presented by Little Tokyo Vibes, MADE Ent. and Friends of LTSC.

The evening was dedicated to the late DJ Hideo (Hideo Sugano), “the hardest-working DJ on the West Coast,” whose picture was displayed on stage. At left is DJ Richie from Traktivist.

DJ Tony Sugano Jr., DJ Hideo’s brother.

A set by Key Kool (right) and Dannu of the Visionaries included rapping in Japanese. The event also featured dance music by DJ Icy Ice, DJ Lloyd Honda of Kut Above, Tricky Troy, Jason Akahoshi of SOS Productions, DJ Kev, DJ Russ T. of High Resolution, DJ Kristine “Puffs” Ono, Eric Ohye of Westward One, G-Style (Lyle Miura) of Mixed Images, DJ Q (Winston Quitasol) of Kut Above, and DJ Yutaka from Zulu Nation.

Akiko Hattori Maloney and Lauren Kinkade on the dance floor.

Violinist, singer, composer and audio/video host Paul Dateh performed.

Guitarist, singer, composer and producer Shin Kawasaki.

Serving as emcees were:

Above — Actress, writer and comedian Kaitlyn Tanimoto and Sean Miura, producer and lead curator of Little Tokyo’s Tuesday Night Cafe.

Right — Actor/director Aaron Takahashi, a member of Cold Tofu, who is featured in several commercials.

Below — Tuesday Night Project director and co-founder traci kato-kiriyama and actress/comedian Keiko Agena, best known for her role in “Gilmore Girls.”

Food trucks were provided by Tokyo Doggie Style (pictured) and Seoul Sausage Company.

Friends wore funny hats and accessories for souvenir photos.

Drinks provided by Brewyard Brewery were served. Participating businesses included Far Bar, Fu-ga, Joy of Sake, PopdUp, and Boomtown Brewery.

The SOLT (Straight Outta Little Tokyo) Celebration Cocktail was a specialty of the house.

Nisei Week Queen Sarah Hutter and First Princess Veronica Ota sold Spam musubi donated by Shakas in Alhambra.

Attendees also played doughball and purchased SOLT T-shirts.

Photos by J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo