Rafu Bussan Inc. Little Tokyo

Licensing

Rafu Bussan Inc. is a spacious Oriental import store that carries various Japanese items such as gifts, chinaware, artwork, cookingware, etc. that is located on E Second Street in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Over 50 years ago, its original owners Yukio Tanaka and Junichi Onishi established the store with the ambition to provide basic Japanese goods such as rice, tea, and rice bowls to the surrounding families that were recently dismissed from the internment camps. In 1958, Kiyoshi "Skip" Kawaratani bought Onishi's share of the store, managing it alongside Tanaka for the next eight years until finally, Skip and his wife, Aiko, purchased full ownership in 1966. For the next several decades, Skip and Aiko maintained and cared for the store passionately, working hard with loyal employees to serve the local community and still continue to this very day, hoping to serve anyone who comes by with a taste of Japanese culture.

Slides in this album 

Album Type

community history

curtisj — Last modified Jun 28 2021 1:49 a.m.


Login or register
to contribute to the Nikkei Album

Welcome to the NEW Nikkei Album!

We've launched Nikkei Album in beta, so everyone can now start uploading and creating their own albums. There may be things that don't work quite right yet. Please email us to report any errors.

Browse the Nikkei Album

Get updates

Sign up for email updates

Journal feed
Events feed
Comments feed

Support this project

Discover Nikkei

Discover Nikkei is a place to connect with others and share the Nikkei experience. To continue to sustain and grow this project, we need your help!

Ways to help >>

A project of the Japanese American National Museum


The Nippon Foundation