Last time I checked, NYC still had the biggest Japanese population in the country. Have I felt that when I lived there? Not really. However, I definitely sense the strong Japanese pride living in LA that I've never really experienced in NY. That may be because LA has dominantly more population of Japanese American than any other cities, and I think that plays a significant role. It may sound weird, but Japanese American or Japanese raised/lived in US for a really long time (like myself) tend to have a greater appreciation towards the Japanese traditional culture, value the Japanese conservative manner, and have a great pride being a Japanese than... let's say Japanese growing up in Japan. Obviously there's always an exception, but from my own experience, I definitely see some major differences between those who grew up in here and Japan.
Anways, I thought this parade was one of the great examples to show the great presence of Japanese American in LA. The parade itself is called "Nisei Parade" which literally means "the second generation parade" in Japanese. So unlike some other "Japanese parade" you see elsewhere, this parade is named after Japanese American. As you can see, I had way too much fun drinking beer and eating yakisoba... and watching my friend perform in the parade :) Apparently, it's his 20th time participating in this parade... I hope the tradition continues like that, for next generation :)
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