I’m a third-generation Japanese American, or sansei, born and raised in Los Angeles. I don’t speak Japanese, but through art and cooking, I stay connected to my culture and my ancestors. Whenever we cook at home, my 9-year-old daughter Aiko always reminds us that the special ingredient in every meal is love.
Beyond our individual homes, food is also vital for community building. This was the idea at the heart of a community cookbook I helped create, “Belly Like Drum,” with Nikkei Progressives, a grassroots intergenerational activism organization. “Belly Like Drum” was a labor of love, filled with recipes, interviews, poetry, illustrations and even food-related jokes written by my daughter. Many of us in the Japanese American community grew up with community cookbooks, and this one — with contributors ranging in age from 7 to 97 — is our way of paying homage to our families while acting as a bridge to future generations.
Little Tokyo is central to that story. One of the last remaining Japantowns in the country, it recently celebrated 140 years. Little Tokyo is dear to my heart, as five generations of my family have walked its streets. It’s where my great-grandfather owned a barbershop, where my grandparents met, where my parents were married, where I played basketball as a child and now where my daughter participates in Kizuna Summer Camp.
My husband Sheheryar and I took our daughter to Japan in 2024, and when we returned, she kept asking to go to Little Tokyo because that is the closest we can get to Japan in the U.S. From its specialty markets and restaurants to the Little Tokyo Public Library, this neighborhood provides us with a tangible connection to Japanese and Japanese American life right here in L.A.
Every year, we take my daughter to the Oshogatsu (New Year’s) celebration at the Japanese American National Museum, Nisei Week and Delicious Little Tokyo, hosted by the Little Tokyo Community Council. There is also a weekly farmers market in Noguchi Plaza at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center on Saturdays.
We love supporting legacy businesses that hold traditions from past generations and have sustained Little Tokyo all these years. My go-to place is Azay, a family-run intergenerational Japanese-French restaurant. My favorite dishes: the Japanese breakfast, barbecue eel bowl and matcha crème brûlée … I have never seen my daughter eat anything faster!
I used to go to the Far East Cafe as a kid after every wedding and funeral, and I love to see the community continue to frequent the space now as Far Bar. Rafu Bussan for cookware and Anzen for knives from Japan are also a must.
Speaking of cooking, the recipe I’m sharing here is from “Belly Like Drum.” My dear cousin (she prefers we call her “Aunt Grace”) prepared “Mama Izuhara’s Salmon Steaks” at every family gathering, and we never tire of it.
She inherited the recipe from her mother-in-law, who lived to be 100. For me, this dish (which is quick and easy to make) is comfort food, familial warmth and a hug all rolled into one.
Mama Izuhara’s Salmon Steaks
Salmon steaks or filets
Mayonnaise
Dried chopped parsley (or furikake)
Shoyu (soy sauce)
Place salmon steaks skin-down on a baking pan. Spread generously with mayonnaise and sprinkle with parsley.
Drizzle shoyu generously over salmon.
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the fish flakes and can separate easily, it is cooked through.
Alyson Iwamoto is an arts educator, ceramicist, mother and member of Nikkei Progressives, with whom she created a community cookbook titled “Belly Like Drum.” She has taught ceramics to children for more than a decade and currently teaches at Sooki Studio, a community studio in Frogtown. Learn more at alysoniwamoto.com and on Instagram @alysoniwamoto.
