Ethnic niche feels impact of changes.

THE name Little Tokyo, designating the neighborhood just south and east of L.A.'s Civic Center, was coined in 1903 by the Japanese-language newspaper Rafu Shimpo.

Japanese people began settling in the area in the 1880s, and its population continued to increase until the Exclusion Act of 1924 curbed further immigration from Japan. At its peak, Little Tokyo had 30,000 residents; now it has perhaps 1,000, mostly aging Japanese-Americans.

The biggest blow came during World War II, when Japanese nationals and even U.S. citizens of Japanese origin were rounded up and sent to "relocation" camps such as Manzanar. At the end of the war, many returned, and a redevelopment movement in the 1970s drew Japanese corporations expanding their overseas operations to the area.

Little Tokyo has since evolved into a tourism and shopping district. Major public landmarks include the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Japanese-American National Museum and the East West Players theater. The New Otani hotel on Los Angeles Street below First Street remains a favorite home base for Japanese tourists.

Toda Development Inc., a unit of Japan's Toda Corp., is landlord to the thematic Japanese Village Plaza--a collection of stores, restaurants and shops. In recent years, Korean restaurants have also moved into the adjacent areas, along with bunches of electronics and videogame retailers.

Just east of the Japanese Village, Related Cos. is building a 128-unit apartment project at Second Street and Central Avenue that will also contain 12,000 square feet of shops. The $32 million development is expected to be completed by mid-year.

Meanwhile, Trammel Crow Residential is nearing completion on a 300-unit apartment building in the first phase of its Alexan Savoy complex on Little Tokyo's eastern border at First and Alameda streets. When completed, it will have 500 units.

And Tom Gilmore and Richard Weintraub are redeveloping a site next to the former St. Vibiana Cathedral into a mixed-use facility with residential and retail components.

One area landmark is the Los Angeles Times building at First and Spring Streets. The edifice, built by Gordon B. Kaufmann in 1935, and winner of a gold medal at the 1937 Paris Exposition, was the largest building in the western United States at the time. A 10-story addition was made in 1948, and another six stories were added in the early 1970s.

With growth, however, comes change. The residential developments under way will inevitably alter the historic Japanese heritage of the neighborhood.

Additionally, residents must now contend with the encroachment of Civic Center institutions into the district. A distinctive new Caltrans District 7 headquarters designed by architect Thorn Mayne has won raves from critics but is more closely linked to government activities than the neighborhood's traditional tenants.

At the old Caltrans site at First and Spring streets, residents have opposed a plan to construct a new headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department--saying it would hinder revitalization and the growth of arts in the district.

The late downtown developer Ira Yellin had proposed building a public square in the same area. His wife, Adelle Yellin, said in a letter to the City Council that the park was "envisioned as a central, gathering place for this city-without-a-center: a place to hold a city gathering for the New Year; a place to protest, a place to celebrate."

Little Tokyo

Features

Shopping and tourism district that still serves as the center of ethnic Japanese community life in L.A.; target of recent development, some welcomed, some opposed

Top Landowners

* Los Angeles Times/Tribune Co.

Number of Properties: 9

Square Feet: 755,261

Number of Acres: 6.6

* State of California

Number of Properties: 6

Square Feet: 15,408

Number of Acres: 3.7

* Toda Development Inc.

Number of Properties: 10

Square Feet: 77,362

Number of Acres: 3.4

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]