LTHS Seeks Entries for 2019 Short Story Contest

The Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) seeks submissions for its sixth annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger).

The deadline is Jan. 31, 2019.

The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in Little Tokyo. The story has to be fictional and set in a current, past or future Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. The short story committee will be specifically looking for stories that capture the spirit and sense of Little Tokyo.

Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash with their short story being published in The Rafu Shimpo and on the Discover Nikkei website. A public award ceremony and dramatic readings of the winning stories are also being planned for spring 2019.

“This contest is unique in that there are categories in both the English and Japanese languages,” said Naomi Hirahara, author and committee chair. “And winners of our youth category have gone on to apply their creative skills in their college education.

For more information and guidelines, refer to the Little Tokyo Historical Society website, www.littletokyohs.org. If you would like to financially contribute to the contest, email imaginelittletokyo@gmail.com.