Japantown
Atlas - Crenshaw District, Los Angeles (1950s-1970s)Japantown
Atlas - Crenshaw District, Los Angeles (1950s-1970s)
Map: West Jefferson Blvd. and Crenshaw Blvd. with West Los Angeles overview
Business listings are as remembered by Mitchell Matsumura/Sansei Legacy, Wes Kamikawa, and Shari Nishi, in 2024-25.
The map above is higher than 300 dpi resolution so you can zoom in on your browser to read the small labels. Find a higher resolution, 24 x 24 inch PDF of the map in our /share folder.
The Crenshaw District started taking shape in the 1920s, along one of several streetcar lines built west from downtown Los Angeles, but Wet Jefferson and other main streets had as many dwellings and billboards as businesesses at first. It was built out and flourished as an automobile-centered suburb after World War II. Unlike many Los Angeles neighborhoods, Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills did not have restrictive covenants; a number of Japanese and African American families settled out here.
The one-mile section of West Jefferson Blvd. between Arlington St. and Crenshaw Blvd. became the core of a thriving Japanese American business district starting in the 1950s. By the 1960s several key businesses and larger gathering places appeared along Crenshaw Blvd. including Holiday Bowl, Kokusai Theater, and Crenshaw Square Shopping Center.
This PBS SoCal documentary, Lost LA: From Little Tokyo to the Crenshaw explains some of the neighborhood's interesting history.
This map shows about 100 businesses established by Nisei and Sansei (2nd and 3rd generation) entrepeneurs. Today's diverse business district continues to serve the neighborhood, but has few(er) Japanese American businesses than in its heyday.
Posted 10/22/25 11PM