Japanese Hospital Tote Bag

The Little Tokyo Historical Society on Jan. 4 unveiled a new City of Los Angeles sign marking the former location of the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights.

Before Pearl Harbor and the nationalist hysteria that led to the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, there was a thriving community of Japanese immigrants in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights neighborhood.

On Nov. 1, the L.A. City Council voted unanimously to include the Japanese Hospital building on the Historic-Cultural Monument designation listing.

The former Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights became a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in November 2016.

Established during an era of discriminatory medical practices, the Japanese Hospital opened its doors to a diverse clientele in the wake of a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Japanese Hospital Cultural Heritage Commission Hearings.

Japanese Hospital Event.

This public program, researched and organized by the Little Tokyo Historical Society and Discover Nikkei, recounted the Japanese community’s struggle for better medical care in the 1920s.