Yaohan Plaza, the Past and Present
Back in the late 80s/early 90s, the Yaohan Plaza in Little Tokyo was an ambitious undertaking. It was located on the edge of Little Tokyo, where it bordered skid row. Inside the plaza, it offered visitors almost everything that a fan of Japan could possibly desire.
On the 1st floor, you had the expansive Yaohan supermarket, the well-stocked Asahiya bookstore, and a small collection of independent retailers.
The 2nd floor was the crown jewel of Little Tokyo; a fully stocked Japanese style department store. In addition to the regular assortment of Japanese fashions, you had an electronics department, stationary, and a toy store. Weird childhood memory: I remember seeing some white people clapping their hands to a Wham! music video that was playing on a big screen TV.
The toy store had a nice collection of Tamiya plastic model kits as well as a very impressive video game collection. If you had the bucks, you could purchase a PC Engine, Super Famicom, and even an original Neo Geo.
Other attractions include a bowling alley and video arcade on the third floor. This area had a fully equipped pro shop and the collection of coin-ops was more than decent.
So what happened to all of this? I can only assume that the economic meltdown in Japan during the early 1990s caused corporations to tighten their budgets. Also, Little Tokyo was beginning to decline (fewer visitors, more homeless people).
Yaohan turned into Mitsuwa and the second floor department store was sealed off. More recently, Mitsuwa has closed its doors and it’s been replaced by a generic supermarket.
On the bright side, the developers have opened up the second floor (see the above pic). From the looks of things, this might be another department store. Perhaps we’ll see another toy store?
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I have a memory of watching Robotech in Spanish in that department store. Also, my uncle used to work in the restaurant of that bowling alley. Good times. That arcade is still there though and I believe that toy store was called Pony Toy if I’m not mistaken. I wonder what will going to that large department space. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for it.