Little Tokyo Breakfast Club

Mike, a Yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese American) and native Angeleno, has ancestral roots in Tottori, Wakayama and Fukushima prefectures in Japan. He is passionate about Little Tokyo, following in the footsteps of his paternal grandparents, who met in the 1920s and were involved in the community and owned pre-war Toyo Florist & Nursery on North San Pedro Street. You’ll often see Mike giving walking tours of Little Tokyo.

He graduated from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business with an emphasis in international finance and after graduation, he attended a one-year study abroad program at Waseda University International Division in Tokyo. Mike began his finance career in Tokyo and upon returning to the U.S. after three years, he had a decades-long career in banking and retired from MUFG Union Bank in fall 2021. Soon after, he began a part-time job at Azay, a restaurant in Little Tokyo. Fun fact: Mike worked part-time at Merit Savings & Loan Association on First Street during college.

Mike has been a 36-year volunteer with the Japanese American National Museum; a longtime president of the Little Tokyo Historical Society; a Grateful Crane Ensemble board member; longtime member and past president of Montebello-Ashiya Sister City Association; an archeological dig projects volunteer at the Manzanar National Historic Site; and a 13-year mentor with USC Career Center’s First-Generation Mentor Program. Mike was also co-chair of the Nisei Week Coronation in 1999.

After the devastation of the Tohoku region of northeast Japan that suffered the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant explosion on March 11, 2011, Mike volunteered in the region nearly every year through his church, Altadena Community Church, United Church of Christ. In retirement, Mike revived his interest in shodō, Japanese calligraphy, that  he learned at Waseda University, and visits friends and relatives in Japan annually.

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.