Kenji Liu Print - Old Nishi

"Old Nishi"

You can see the facade of the old Nishi Honganji temple on 1st Street, currently owned by the Japanese American National Museum. Originally built in 1925, it helped organize the Japanese Buddhist community and provided a place of religious and cultural leadership. In 1942, Executive Order 9066 led to the incarceration of all Japanese people and it be the location for evacuees to be taken to incarceration camps.

The Japanese American National Museum has been stewarding this site since 1985. It's been designated as a Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument. 

Artist Kenji Liu's artwork of Old Nishi was used for the Little Tokyo Historical Society's 13th annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest poster.

Size: 5x7 inches