Akio san was last seen heading south from 564 Virgil / The Ozawa Boarding House using an office chair as wheelchair. He was on his way to a doctor’s appointment after suffering multiple falls due to the landlord’s neglect of the property; despite several requests by tenants (most of whom are elderly), the building’s landlord has yet to install proper handrails or ramps on the property. Currently, the tenants struggle to withstand the landlord’s daily harassment, uninhabitable living conditions including all day construction with hazardous dust particles debris everywhere and months of not having a fully functioning kitchen -- you can help by printing out flyers and help canvas surrounding neighborhoods!
tinyurl.com/find-akio

Link to L.A. Times Article
L.A.’s last Japanese boardinghouse is safe, for now. Elderly tenants still worry

Nobuharu Hamakawa, left, and Hidetoshi Shibao live in a boardinghouse on North Virgil Avenue. All images by Christina House / Los Angeles Times

Nobuharu Hamakawa is a tenant at an East Hollywood that has served as a boardinghouse and employment agency for Japanese immigrants.

Nobuharu Hamakawa in his room at the boardinghouse.

Hidetoshi Shibao, 77, came to California in the early 1970s, working as a gardener and a tour bus driver. He is skeptical of the owner’s offer to move the boarders to a building next door for the same rent.

Link to Rafu Article
The Marshalls from J-Flats