Licensing

Aiko Kawaratani (Owner) and Carol Tanita (Store Clerk) at Rafu Bussan Inc.

Owner Akio Kawaratani (left) and longtime employee and friend Carol Tanita (right) stand among the many shelves lining the store at Rafu Bussan Inc. in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles in March 2010. Ms. Tanita has been an employee at Rafu Bussan Inc. for the last 30 years having grown up in the neighborhood and visited the store since she was a child. Ms. Kawaratani and her husband took over the store from its previous owners in 1958, working hard ever since to build it into the amazing place it is today.