Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 1

"The City is a mosaic of little worlds which touch but do not interpenetrate"
                                                                                       -Robert E. Park

Hi, I am Kei, UCLA junior-exchange student. I am exploring the degree and the ways in which Robert E. Park's statement is true and untrue in L.A. In other words, I am trying to find the answers for "what difference does difference make in the landscapes of the contemporary, metropolitan Los Angeles region". I will look into this challenging question through in-class studies and fieldworks.

My interest in the class, Geography 151: Cities and Social Difference Fall 2012, is how the society functions with the people who have different backgrounds, ideas, and behaviors. I am International Relations major in my home university, and always wonder how the U.S. government or the state governmen manages population which is consisted of various kinds of groups. Especially, the geography of L.A. which is enormously diversed, is what I want to examine more deeply.

Now, let's find out something about LA one by one!!! The first stage is Little Tokyo, which I went to yesterday!!!

 Little Tokyo is a community of Japanese-American, which was established more than 100 years ago.
As I was walking around the town, I noticed that the community is not so big that it does not take 30 minutes to go to all the places.  Interestingly, there were no outstanding differences of trees, cars, and streets between Little Tokyo and outside of the community. However, there were certain differences that make this place diffrent from the other area of LA.

Firstly, take a look at this video which I took on the street.

It may be difficult to listen to the sound, but it is clear that the language they speak is different from what majority of the L.A. speak, English. What they speak is Japanese. Furthermore, not only the verbal language but also written language makes certain difference in the community. The written languages in the following pictures are what made me feel that Little Tokyo is not a part of L.A.

Secondly, there was a difference between the buildings of Little Tokyo and those of other area. Tiled loof, white-plastered wall, the dark wood...there were many aspects of buildings that differentiate this community from the rest of L.A.

Thirdly, it can be considered that the foods that are eaten in Little Tokyo make this area different from other areas. For instance, I saw a lot of restaurants that sell raw fishes, which are not very common in other places in L.A.

Although it is difficult to assume that the people are eating only these kind of foods, it is important to notice that raw fishes are more usually eaten in Little Tokyo rather than other areas in LA. Thus food is also a significant feature that distinguishes this place from the rest of L.A.

Now, when I go back to see the statement "The City is a mosaic of little worlds which touch but do not interpenetrate", and think whether this is true or not, it is not easy to answer since I have seen only Little Tokyo as the part of "little worlds" so far. However, it is able to judge whether this community "penetrates" or not into "The City", L.A.
When I consider  whether the functioning of Little Tokyo is based on mechanical solidarity or organic solidarity, I can say that this place cherishes mechanical solidarity. The reason is that there is an emphasis on the the value of American Japanese group, not an American Japanese individual. This can be understood since they live together in the same community and accept the values of outer area. One might argue that Little Tokyo stresses organic solidarity since they emphasize their community as an "individual" unit of belief or value so that the community is placed a bit far from the center of L.A. downtown. However, take a look at the following pictures;

There are many places that show the concepts of "accepting others" in Little Tokyo. The important thing to mention is that it is not all the blood that makes people work together. Several factors, for example "attachment to the same soil" and "a commonality of habits", enable the co-operation between people, and it makes the city able to interpenetrate.
Therefore, from the fieldwork of Little Tokyo, it can be suggested that Robert E. Park's statement is not so true this time.

Reference;
Emile Durkheim "The Causes [of the Division of Labor]" from The Division of Labor in Society(1893)
"Organic Analogy" from Dictionary of Sociology