The Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) seeks fictional short stories for its 11th annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger).
The deadline is Feb. 29, midnight Pacific Time. The contest is presented by LTHS in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum’s Discover Nikkei project.
The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place there. 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. Both generative AI and plagiarism are strictly prohibited.
Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash with their short story being published in The Rafu Shimpo, Discover Nikkei and the LTHS website.
A hybrid (in-person and virtual) award ceremony and dramatic readings of the winning stories are also being planned at the Japanese American National Museum.
For more information and guidelines, refer to the LTHS website, www.littletokyohs.org/. If you would like to financially contribute to the contest, email imaginelittletokyo@gmail.com.