The 50th Anniversary of Japan Airlines’ Los Angeles　Line
-Connecting Japan and the U.S. for 50 Years-

Japan Airlines celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Los Angeles line at LAX on May 29, 2009, at LAX.

Consulate-General of Japan in Los　Angeles, Junichi Ihara joined in the tape cutting ceremony. Atsuro Nishi, Japan Airlines CEO, spoke to the audience about the history of the flight.

The first Japan Airlines plane that flew from Japan to Los Angeles was in 1959. They used a 66-passenger propeller airplane called the DC-7C. The plane left Haneda, Japan at night, stopped in Hawaii and arrived in Los Angeles the next morning. The 25-hour flight was twice as long as today’s durations, which is approximately 11 hours.

Japan Airlines says it hopes to continue its close relationship with the Japanese community of Los Angeles for the next fifty years.

Sugoi Life
-Japanese Goods in the U.S.-

Thirty minutes away from Downtown Los Angeles is the city of Northridge, and in the Northridge mall, is Sugoi Life.

Over 80,000 Japanese products are neatly organized in the 10，000 square feet store. Popular items include Bandai figurines and Re-Ment food-shaped erasers and toys. They also carry shampoo, face wash and kitchen goods shipped directly from Japan.

Rich Nakajima, President of Sugoi Life, says he goes to Japan to purchase most of the items. He also makes sure to make his customers feel like they are actually in Japan.

Nakajima plans to build more Sugoi Life stores in the future, so that he can introduce the Japanese culture to Southern California locals.