Little Tokyo Breakfast Club

Bill Watanabe was the founding Executive Director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) in downtown Los Angeles. For 32 years, he guided its growth, in conjunction with the Board of Directors, from a one-person staff to a multi-faceted social service and community development program with 150 paid staff, many of whom are bilingual in any of eight Asian Pacific languages and Spanish. Bill retired from LTSC in June 2012. While at LTSC, Bill helped to establish several key service organizations such as the Asian Pacific Community Fund, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), the Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Center, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, and the Little Tokyo Community Council (LTCC). Bill is also the founder of the API National Historic Preservation Forum. Bill has an MSW from UCLA, is married, and has one daughter. He lives in Silver Lake near downtown Los Angeles.

Steve Nagano is a Little Tokyo resident, and has been involved with a number of community organizations and events. As a filmmaker he has shown his film shorts annually in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and various community organizations. Since 2011 he has been a board member of the Neighborhood Council. He has done extensive work on the preservation of the testimonies of incarcerees before the Commission WRIC (CWRIC). He has been a key organizer of the Little Tokyo Sparkle, the community-wide cleanup. 

Jane Matsumoto is the former Executive Culinary Arts Director at JACCC, retiring in late 2024. Jane has worked for more than 25 years in public service. She played a key role in major projects like implementing the TAP smart card system for public transportation, but her true passion lies in the culinary arts.

Jane is deeply inspired by the history, science, and preparation of global cuisines—especially Washoku, the traditional food of Japan. Outside the kitchen, she’s often exploring food blogs, diving into cookbooks, traveling, or hiking local trails.

Born and raised in Southern California, Gary returned to the area in 2022 after spending almost thirty years in Hawaii. A graduate of the University of Southern California and the Kapiolani Community College Culinary Arts program, his experience in food and beverage runs the gamut of the industry. Training and progressing in the kitchen at Alan Wong’s Honolulu, he has also served as a Chef de Cuisine, Executive Chef, General Manager, Food & Beverage Director, and consultant, across a spectrum of different properties.