Los Angeles is such a diverse place. There are many ethnic sections in Los Angeles, such as Chinatown, Koreatown, and Little Tokyo.
This week, I was given the chance to watch a Japanese movie being premiered in the United States for the first time at Little Tokyo, at the Aratani Theatre. The movie was titled “The Lion Standing in the Wind,” and in Japanese it is called “風に立つライオン” (kaze ni tatsu raion). The movie was entirely in Japanese, with English subtitles. It was based on a true story about a doctor named Koichiro Shimada at Nagasaki University’s Institute of Tropical Medicine back in the late 1980’s. The doctor was sent to Kenya, Africa to work at a research facility. During this time, he was sent to help out at the local Red Cross hospital. At the time, Africa had a lot of guerrilla warfare going on, and many of the injured were children. During his time at the Red Cross hospital, Koichiro bonded with the children, and helped set them on the right path. Later on, however, while riding to another part of town in a car, he was ambushed and was killed.
The story was actually a song with the same title. After the song was released, a novel was made. A decade later, the movie was finally made.
After seeing the movie, I went out to eat with my brother, a couple of friends. We at at Orochon ramen. I personally got their Soy Sauce Ramen, which was delicious.
Shortly after that, we explored Little Tokyo, and even got some boba.
I love how Los Angeles has so many ethnic enclaves. They serve as a gateway to lots of different cultures, and I would like to visit other places such as Koreatown soon!
I have been to Little Tokyo countless times and never knew that they played authentic Japanese movies. There must be differences between the movies that we watch and the movies which they consider to be entertaining of funny. In a way going to Little Tokyo is like leaving LA for a little bit and being able to explore a different location, which is awesome!
Anaid Gonzalez