6th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

May 17, 2019 - May 31, 2019

The Little Tokyo Historical Society’s sixth-short story contest concluded with an Awards Reception held on the evening of Thursday, April 18, 2019 at the Union Church of Los Angeles in Little Tokyo. The winning stories were read by three professional actors. The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in Little Tokyo. The story has to be fictional and set in a current, past or future Little Tokyo in the City of Los Angeles, California.

Winners

English Language Category: “Promise Me You’ll Remember” by Cody Uyeda
Youth Category: “A Reason to be Proud” by Austen Lock
Japanese Language Category: “Little Tokyo Story – Ben & Akiko” by Naoko Okada

Read stories from other Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contests:

fiction Little Tokyo

Stories from this series

Little Tokyo Story – Ben & Akiko

May 31, 2019 • Naoko Okada

It’s been seven and a half years since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics’ huge success resulted in our Japanese American community here in Los Angeles flourishing as well. 64 years after Fred Wada’s achievements led to the 1964 Olympics being held in Tokyo, Los Angeles will host the Olympics, and the venues are almost completed. The Terasaki Budokan opened the same year as the 2020 Olympics, and increased peoples’ awareness of sports even more, attracting a whole range …

athletics California community centers festivals fiction Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest (series) Japanese Americans Little Tokyo Los Angeles Nisei Week (event) Olympics sports Terasaki Budokan United States

Promise Me You’ll Remember

May 24, 2019 • Cody Uyeda

5:00PM was when the phone call came, telling me you were gone. Engine failure they said. Explosion over the Pacific, just a few miles past the Hawaiian islands. No survivors. The little apartment we had bought on 2nd street so you could be close to Little Tokyo feels so small now. On my pillow, I stare at a lone hair; yours, I can tell, from its scent of coconut shampoo. From our room, through the door, I can see the …

agriculture California fiction gardening gardens Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest (series) Japanese gardens Little Tokyo Los Angeles loss United States

A Reason to be Proud

May 17, 2019 • Austen Lock

“Hey Buddhahead! C’mere! I want to talk to you. Where are you going? You’ve got nowhere to run. I just want to talk! Buddhahead!” I run away. Again. Back to the corner where Collin will never find me. The same routine every day. I hide until right before the bell rings, wait for my teacher to take roll, and run inside the locker room as fast as possible. Thankfully, P.E. is my last class of the day, so after I …

442nd Regimental Combat Team armed forces California fiction Go for Broke (motto) identity Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest (series) Little Tokyo Los Angeles retired military personnel United States United States Army veterans World War II

Authors in This Series

Austen Lock

Austen Lock is 12 years old. He is in 7th Grade and is a part of the Orange County Buddhist Church (OCBC). He does many activities at OCBC, including taiko, basketball, and Boy Scouts. He likes camping and going to Japan.

Updated May 2019

Naoko Okada

Naoko Okada was born in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Sophia University Foreign Language Department, German Department in 1984 and went on to study fashion design at Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisianne and trained with designers such as Pierre Cardin and Issei Miyake.

She moved to Los Angeles, California in 1989. Since then, she has presented an original kimono dress at the Nisei Week Fashion Show, and has also exhibited and sold designs at the Beverly Hills Art Show. She has been involved in the planning of Japanese and Nikkei cultural activities at the Terasaki Foundation since 1990, and has been organizing lectures and performances from various points of view.

Updated May 2019

Cody Uyeda

Cody Uyeda is a fourth generation Japanese American living in Southern California. He has a BA and JD from USC and an Ed.M from HGSE, and currently works in educational research and the Asian American nonprofit space.

Updated July 2022

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