2nd Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest
The Little Tokyo Historical Society conducted its second annual short story (fiction) writing contest which concluded on April 22, 2015 at a reception in Little Tokyo in which the winners and finalists were announced. Last year's contest was entirely in English whereas this year's contest also had a youth category and a Japanese-language category, with cash prizes awarded for each category. The only requirement (other than the story could not exceed 2,500 words or 5,000 Japanese characters) was that the story had to involve Little Tokyo in some creative manner.
Winners (First Place)
- English: “Fish Market in Little Tokyo” by Nathaniel J. Campbell from Fairfield, Iowa
- Youth: “Kazuo Alone” by Linda Toch from Corona, California
- Japanese: “Mitate Club” by Miyuki Sato from Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan (Japanese only)
Some of the Finalists to be featured are:
English:
- “Floating Home” by Jan Morrill from Dallas, Texas
- “Alice and the Bear” by Kiyoshi Parker from Los Angeles, California
- “All Along this Road” by Don Fenton from Dallas, Texas
- “Both Alike in Dignity” by Chester Sakamoto from Los Angeles, California
- “The Tempura King” by Kent Morizawa from Glendale, California
- “For a Look at New Worlds” by Jerome Stueart from Vandalia, Ohio
- “Queen of Manzanar” by Hans Weidman from Los Angeles, California
- “Masao and the Bronze Nightingale” by Ruben “Funkahuatl” Guevara from Los Angeles, California
Youth:
- “Midori's Magic” by Sarena Kuhn from Los Alamitos, California
Japanese (Japanese only)
- “Little Tokyo Daikagura” by Yuriko Kondo from Thousand Oaks, California
- “Hotel no Otoko” by Michie Wakabayashi from Los Angeles, California
*Read stories from other Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contests:
1st Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
3rd Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
4th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
5th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
6th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
7th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
8th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
9th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
10th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest >>
Stories from this series
For a Look at New Worlds
Aug. 31, 2015 • Jerome Stueart
Every generation has an obligation to free men’s mindsfor a look at new worlds…to look out from a higherplateau than the last generation. —Ellison S. Onizuka Griff Onizuka stood in front of his great-great-grandfather’s memorial, a swirl of brightly coloured paper cranes flew around the 27-foot-high copy of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the brass base, the face of Ellison S. Onizuka. As if caught in a beautiful pastel tornado of little wings, the monument had its picture taken from hundreds …
The Tempura King
Aug. 24, 2015 • Kent Morizawa
They called Nozomi the Tempura King of Little Tokyo. He manned the tempura bar at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant, holding court each night and delighting guests with his wizardry. People came from all over Los Angeles to enjoy Nozomi’s perfectly crisp and flavorful tempura. A lot went into making it perfect, but the real secret was in the oil. Not too hot or the outside would burn and leave the inside raw. Not too cold or the batter would soak …
Little Tokyo Daikagura
Aug. 17, 2015 • Yuriko Kondo
“Wow! Mom look at that guy juggling so many balls!” A little boy's voice grazes my ears. I'm glad that he's pleased with my juggling, which I've only just started practicing, but I still feel a little embarrassed and ticklish. And, as always, people pass by on the street corners of Little Tokyo, and I become part of the scenery and time passes. My darkened elbows and hands are like a different creature as I go to pick up the …
Both Alike in Dignity
Aug. 10, 2015 • Chester Sakamoto
It wasn’t like Mr. Muncznik to get lost. Then again, his mind wasn’t what it used to be. Every Sunday, he would take the bus to visit his old friend, Berek, in Pasadena. On this particular Sunday, however, his mind had slipped, causing him to get off far earlier than he anticipated. Now, he found himself wandering the streets of Little Tokyo. Despite the fact that he was lost, Mr. Muncznik delighted in the sights with a kind of fascination. …
All Along This Road
Aug. 3, 2015 • Don Fenton
Kenji saw her, or at least, he thought he saw her shoes cross East Second Street. They were silver Oxfords that looked like they had been spray-painted metallic silver. It wasn’t the oddest article of clothing he saw around the Japanese Village Plaza though, which was packed with tourists and women dressed in out-of-season kimonos, twirling neon pink paper parasols, and wearing rainbow shades of eye shadow. It was also full of Cosplay people that looked like androgynous anime characters …
Midori’s Magic
July 27, 2015 • Sarena Kuhn
I shivered as I squinted my eyes, intensely focused on the many windows of the Miyako Hotel. There were dimly-lit rooms, rooms where I could distinguish animated silhouettes, rooms that were dark as the sky, but I still couldn’t figure out which window belonged to our room. Despite my concentration, this did little to diminish the cold that was creeping through my body and making my poor teeth chatter. No one had thought it fitting to warn me that a …