🇯🇵 Little Tokyo (DTLA) & Costa Mesa
Japanese SoCal: Little Tokyo & Costa Mesa
Curated by Simir Shah
8 spots across Southern California — add your zip or city to sort by what's closest to you
Mitsuwa Marketplace (Costa Mesa)
Costa Mesa
Japanese grocery anchor with a food court serving ramen (Santouka), bento, and matcha sweets, plus a bookstore and specialty shops. A hub for OC's Japanese community.
🗓️ Open daily 9am–9pm
Tokyo Central (Costa Mesa)
Costa Mesa
Large Japanese grocery store (Marukai's retail brand) carrying a wide selection of Japanese products, prepared bento, sushi, and a hot buffet bar. Sister locations operate in Irvine and elsewhere.
🗓️ Open daily 8am–10pm
Orange Coast Gakuen Japanese Language School
Huntington Beach · Weekend school
One of Orange County's oldest and largest Japanese weekend schools (founded 1975), offering preschool through high school classes in heritage and foreign-language tracks. Parent-run, with cultural events through the year.
🗓️ Sat classes ~9am–12:30pm (school year)
💵 Tuition-based; enrollment required
Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple
Los Angeles
Jodo Shinshu (Shin Buddhist, Otani-ha) temple at 3rd and Central in Little Tokyo, with roots dating to 1904. Hosts services and community festivals such as Obon.
🗓️ Office ~10am–4:30pm daily; Sun services
Japanese American National Museum (JANM)
Los Angeles · Museum
The leading museum of Japanese American history and the WWII incarceration experience, in Little Tokyo. Its Pavilion is undergoing a major renovation and reimagined core exhibition, reopening in late 2026.
🗓️ Main Pavilion closed through ~late 2026; off-site programs continue
💵 Pavilion closed for renovation
Japanese Village Plaza
Los Angeles
Open-air pedestrian plaza in Little Tokyo with Japanese restaurants, mochi and taiyaki stands, bookstores, and gift shops. A central gathering spot for the neighborhood's Japanese American community.
🗓️ Open daily; shops generally ~11am–8pm
Koyasan Buddhist Temple
Los Angeles
Shingon Buddhist temple (Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin) founded in 1912, one of the oldest Buddhist temples on the U.S. mainland, in the heart of Little Tokyo. A long-standing center of religious and cultural life.
🗓️ Most days ~10am–4pm (closed Thu)
Fugetsu-Do
Los Angeles
Family-owned wagashi shop in Little Tokyo making mochi and manju since 1903, among the oldest Japanese American businesses in the country. Known for fresh handmade daifuku and seasonal sweets.
🗓️ Open daily ~8am–6pm
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