Turning Japanese

Sawtelle is a great neighborhood in West LA for fans of Japanese food and culture. It's also a great neighborhood for homesick Japanese. I love the tiny Nijiya Supermarket which is so much like the neighborhood supermarkets all over Tokyo. Even the shopping baskets are the same!

The area is also a magnet for Americans infatuated with all things Japanese.

In Tokyo, you'll see Japanese kids trying to look like home boys, low riders, Rastafarians, new-age hippies, etc. so I was totally charmed by a young man in Sawtelle who had the Japanese Urban Youth look down to a T. I wish I had been able to talk to him, but I lost him when I turned to Big Dog to point him out. ("You mean he not Japanese?!")

I think the young man was inspired by manga or music idols. Like these?