This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Take a stroll through Little Tokyo, where red paper lanterns hang overhead and kids saunter by in cosplay outfits, and it’s easy to feel like you’re wandering the urban streets of Japan. But a second glance quickly reveals the telltale signs that you’re in the US. Dodgers baseball caps dot the crowd, palm trees sway lazily in the warm breeze and grocery shops display mochi rice balls filled with creamy Southern Californian peanut butter. For all its first impressions, this is the unmistakable heart of downtown Los Angeles.

Just a few walkable blocks south east of Hollywood, this small but mighty neighbourhood has been the epicentre of Japanese-American life for over 140 years, one of only three Japan Towns still remai

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