Opened: 1987. It was in a big complex on the southwest corner of 3rd St. and Alameda. A June 4 L.A. Times story discussed the project:
"Two New Movie Theaters Set To Open In Little Tokyo Mall - The Little Tokyo Cinemas, whose scheduled opening last month was delayed by failure to pass a fire inspection, will open Friday. 'Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy' will screen in the 250-seat Cinema I and 'The Castle of Sand,' Yoshitaro Nomura's classic Ross Macdonald-like detective mystery, in the 150-seat Cinema II, along with another revival, 'The Shadow Within.' The 37th film in the Tora-san series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as a feckless, itinerant peddler who inevitably loses the girl. 'Bluebird Fantasy' (Times-rated: Family) was described by Kevin Thomas in a May 8 review as 'the perfect picture to provide continuity with the much-missed Kokusai Theatre, which the Little Tokyo now replaces. . . . The Tora-sans are suffused with writer-director Yoji Yamada's love for the common man and for Japan, especially its unspoiled countryside and off-the-beaten-track small towns. Yamada is an unabashed sentimentalist, yet he never loses touch with reality, accepting always the inevitability of loss and change.' The twin theater is located on the third floor of the mall at Little Tokyo Square, 333 S. Alameda St.; (213) 687-7077."
The Kokusai Theatre mentioned in the Times article is the house at 3020 Crenshaw Blvd. that opened as the Crenshaw Theatre and is now known as the West Angeles Performing Arts Theatre. Thanks to Gabriel August Neeb for the research on this one. He notes that the Kokusai hadclosed in 1986.
Closing: It's unknown how long the theatres were open. The buildings in the complex date from 1984 and 1985. It's now known as the Little Tokyo Galleria.
On Alameda looking south at the complex from 3rd St. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The 3rd St. side of the building where the access from the street actually is. We're looking toward Alameda. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Up on the 3rd floor. No sign of any dead theatres anywhere. The fun zone is down the hall straight ahead: games, drinks, food, bowling, billiards. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
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