The Fight for L.A.'s Last Japanese Boarding House

“I know it's labeled a boarding house, but it was more like a community center. It embraced everyone.”

Samanta Helou Hernandez
August 4

It’s a muggy morning in May and 70-year-old Edith Fukutomi sits on the porch of a nearly 100-year-old boarding house on Virgil Avenue. Its wooden, square facade is now painted black and white, a stark change from its original off-white with light pink trim. read more