Celebrating with Community at Terasaki Budokan's Grand Opening

18 Mar Celebrating with Community at Terasaki Budokan’s Grand Opening

Posted at 10:33h in Announcements & Hot News by LTSC Administrator 0 Comments

A 30 year dream became a reality! Terasaki Budokan’s grand opening event drew over 2,000 attendees to celebrate the culmination of this historic project. Featuring local performers, athletes, organizations and vendors, the grand opening was truly a community celebration.

“The weekend (especially Saturday) really embodied what so many, starting with Bill, and carried on by Dean, had worked for so many years to accomplish – the vision of building a place that is built on engaging broad sectors of the Japanese American community, and reconnecting them with Little Tokyo, and also a place that low income seniors, residents and youth can call home,” explained Erich Nakano, Executive Director of LTSC. “For LTSC to have made that vision a reality is amazing, and among so many who were there, you could feel an appreciation and excitement that something extraordinary had come into being. And there were literally generations of staff who poured their heart into making it happen – and most of them were there as part of the celebration, which was so great to see.”

We want to thank all our guest speakers, performers, athletes, vendors and attendees for celebrating with us at the grand opening and helping us create such a memorable event. After decades of organizing, fundraising and planning, (then postponing the grand opening for 2 years due to the pandemic), the long overdue celebration was well worth the wait, as we saw generations of our community come together to celebrate the special day.

“It felt like 30 years of pent up demand was unleashed in one day. It’s clear that Little Tokyo deserves and wholeheartedly supports a recreation center, and I’m excited to see what Budokan’s next chapter has in store for the community,” said Ryan Lee, Director of the Terasaki Budokan.

As programs continue to get added to Budokan’s wide array of offerings, we are excited to see more folks come through Budokan’s doors, as the next chapter for the facility is officially underway.

View Grand Opening Webpage