Little Tokyo Nisei Week 2014: Annual Fun In Little Tokyo

Kyodo Taiko

Sunday, August 9th marked the 74th annual Grand Parade of Nisei Week where taiko drums sounded loudly in a rhythmic beat and the community came together to celebrate Little Tokyo. Beauty queens and dancers, cosplaying super heroes and heads of companies, and some civil office honchos slowly made it down 1st and 2nd street to happy festival goers.The Grand Parade featured sports cars and some fun from LAPD's motorcycle division starting the parade with tricks.This was not the start of Nisei Week, just a piece of the long festival activities.

The JACCC Plaza had a festival area setup over the weekend. Demonstrations over taiko and sumo took place on stage.UCLA's Kyodo Taiko rallied the crowd with it's mastery and showmanship over its superb playing of taiko drums. Near the MOCA, on another stage, in front of the beautiful and colorful Tanabata Festival paper lanterns, was another stage that featured musical acts and a cosplay contest over the first days of the festival. This stage was surrounded by Japanese food booths to get the real taste of a Little Tokyo festival.

Activities continue into this weekend. Check back here at TTDILA or the official web-site for more events going on.