Throughout California you'll find various small communities of a specific country/nation
L.A. has bigger communities because of the population there of specific people is bigger.
They have "China Town", "Thai Town", and "Little Tokyo" districts/communities (just the ones I know of).
Each of these districts/communities is populated by shops and such of each country/nation.
So "Little Tokyo" has Japanese shops, restaurants, stores, etc. of which are all run by Japanese/Japanese-Americans. Hence the name "Little Tokyo".
About half the people who visit this area are Japanese/Japanese-American, and the other half are other Americans.
It's pretty much like the "American City" in Tokyo, Japan
(not sure of the name... "American City", maybe it's "Little USA"??? Not even sure if it's in Tokyo, lol)
Anyways, I found this website that has a few paragraphs about it.
You can also do a search on Google for more info.
http://www.magazineusa.com/cityguide/ca_losangeles/c_dt_tokyo.asp
"Bounded by First and Third Streets from Main to Alameda Streets, southeast of the Civic Center
Little Tokyo is the heart of the Japanese-American community.
It was settled more than 100 years ago and besides gift shops and restaurants it is now home to the Japanese American Museum, the Japanese-American Cultural Center, and a branch of the LA public library which specializes in books about the Japanese-American experience and books in Japanese.
Nisei Week is held annually in August with a parade, traditional dancing, festival food and demonstrations of flower arranging, sumi brush painting, the traditional
tea ceremony and other Japanese arts."