Otomisan: Making History in Boyle Heights
By Ellen Endo
About two miles east of Little Tokyo in the community of Boyle Heights, a tiny café embodies the concept that small can be beautiful and even delicious.
Otomisan restaurant at 2506½ East 1st Street commences its 69th year of continuous operating with a new owner, Jeff Ige, and a Historic-Cultural Monument designation from the City of Los Angeles.
Efforts to secure the designation were spearheaded by Otomisan’s previous owner Yayoi Watanabe in collaboration with the Los Angeles Conservancy and Boyle Heights Community Partners president and CEO Vivian Escalante. Then, in January 2022, following months of documentation and advocacy, the L.A. City Council unanimously approved the designation.
The diner sits on a larger site developed by the Nishiyama family as their residence along the East 1st Street streetcar line. The property, located at 2504-2508 East 1st Street, consists of a one and one-half story Queen Anne style residence and a one-story vernacular commercial building.
Before 1900, restaurants were the main business of Japanese immigrants who first settled in L.A.
“Locales such as the (Nishiyama) property have served as important anchors of the Japanese American community in Boyle Heights for decades,” states the Conservancy.
“The expansion of the streetcar network in Los Angeles led to a differentiation between neighborhood and Downtown commerce.”
The streetcar made access to the central city easier, and as a result, large-scale establishments in Downtown L.A. served the specialized needs of customers while neighborhood stores, like those in Boyle Heights’ business district provided everyday essentials. Also, Japanese-operated grocery stores and restaurants in Los Angeles were largely located on streetcar routes.
According to the L.A. Conservancy, “The property represents the story of Japanese American entrepreneurship before and after World War II in Boyle Heights and… is significant for its association with early Japanese American settlement patterns in Boyle Heights.”
In 1925, Ryohei Nishiyama moved the residence to the rear of the lot and constructed a one-story commercial building facing East First Street. By doing so, he created economic mobility for Japanese and Japanese Americans in Los Angeles during a time when their opportunities were restricted due to land ownership laws, redlining, and job discrimination.
The home was built on First Street by the Nishiyama family in 1890, when Los Angeles was fast becoming home to the largest Issei (Japanese immigrant) population in California. In 1925, then-owner Ryohei Nishiyama moved the house to the rear of the lot and constructed the commercial building facing E. 1st Street, where the family originally operated a grocery store.
The Nishiyamas were incarcerated during World War II after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 and were confined until 1946. They eventually returned to their East First Street property.
The Nishiyama residence is considered a well-preserved example of a modest single-family residence designed in the Queen Anne architectural style.
Along with the grocery store, the commercial building included a florist shop and barber shop before the Japanese restaurant was opened under the name “Otemo Sushi Cafe” in 1956 by Mr. and Mrs. Seto.
In the 1970s, the Setos subsequently sold the restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Seino, who changed the name to Otomisan. Mr. Seino passed away in the early 2000s.
Watanabe, who was operating a dry cleaner at the time, asked Mrs. Seino to sell her the restaurant business.
Although the clientele is much more diverse these days and the current economic climate poses new challenges, Ige is adhering to the original menu and retaining the homestyle cooking, generous portions, and keeping the prices as low as possible.