Los Angeles Map Index

Clicking on links or images links to web pages.

Little Tokyo Maps

Little Tokyo (intro, thumbnail views)

Little Tokyo Map (normal or printable)

Heart of Little Tokyo Detail

LA, Little Tokyo & Boyle Heights

Terminal Island
Boyle Heights
Gardena
Long Beach
Pasadena
Sawtelle/West Los Angeles
Crenshaw District (1950s-70s)
Orange County

PDFs of LA Maps

Click on links to download PDFs.

Heart of Little Tokyo 1940
(1 page, 8.5 x 14, 500 kb)

Little Tokyo Map Set 1940
(2 pages, 11 x 17, 620 kb)

Terminal Island 1940

 

See Links page for use policies, copyright stuff.

 

8/10/07+10/15/25

Los Angeles Basin Japantowns

By the early 20th century, Los Angeles rivaled San Francisco as a major port of entry from Japan, and a gateway to the western United States. It gained immigrants, business and trade as San Francisco rebuilt from the 1906 earthquake, and started to make its own image. It was the local hub for dozens of suburbs and nearby towns, plus a regional business "capitol" for Southern California and beyond.

Los Angeles had a large and complex Japanese American community centered on Little Tokyo, just east of downtown, but its reach extended far across the LA Basin. There were fishing towns, farming towns, suburban neighborhoods in all directions.

Besides Little Tokyo, Japantowns we have mapped Pasadena, Gardena, San Pedro, Terminal Island, and Boyle Heights. Also Orange County. See active links at left.

East First Street shops from Miyako Hotel, 2001

Toy District and residential hotels just south of Little Tokyo, 2001

Other Japantowns (some covered by the Preserving California's Japantowns project) included Sawtelle (near Santa Monica), West LA, Compton, Long Beach...and that's probably just scraping the surface.

2nd draft 8/15/07. First of a number of changes is... 
Crenshaw District link added 10/15/25.    

 

Planned additions:

Comprehensive history and representative photos
Overview map of central Los Angeles (Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights)
Bronzeville, JA Mapping Project, PCJ, JANM links
Resolve best place for graphic map links (compare Little Tokyo intro page).