How the LA site of an iconic Japanese cracker brand became supportive housing

For nearly a century, the name Umeya was synonymous with celebration in Japanese American households — the go-to brand for crisp, soy sauce-glazed rice crackers shared with loved ones.

One of the most popular Umeya snacks were senbei crackers cut in the shape of sakura

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JANM.org

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Now the same factory site in downtown L.A. where tiny crackers shaped like cherry blossoms used to come off the line has been redeveloped into affordable housing for hundreds, many of whom used to be unhoused.

The Little Tokyo Service Center has transformed the site on Towne Avenue into The Umeya, a 175-unit affordable and permanent supportive housing complex that opened this fall. About 130 units of the white gleaming building on the edge of Little Tokyo and Skid Row are already occupied, with residents continuing to move in.

Timothy Mason was among the first arrivals. After nine years of living outside — in tents, abandoned homes and RVs — he remembers the first night he spent in his studio on the fourth floor.

“I sat on this bed and I damn near cried for like two hours,” Mason said. “I couldn’t believe that this is mine.”

The former Umeya factory has been replaced by 175 units of affordable housing.

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Google Street

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The Umeya sits on the edge of Little Tokyo and Skid Row.

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Little Tokyo Service Center

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Inside his furnished studio, a small table doubles as a study desk. Mason is back in school at East Los Angeles College, working toward degrees in addiction studies and psychology.

“I don’t have to worry if the city’s going to come and take my tent, or where I’m gonna get my next meal, or my next shower,” Mason said. “The only worry now is am I gonna study for this exam today or not?"

When fully occupied, the building will house around 250 to 300 people, a mix of working adults, retirees and families.

Tenants typically pay no more than 30% of their income, whether from work or public assistance, according to the non-profit. Apartments for formerly unhoused residents getting on-site support services rent in the range of $700-800.

A family legacy

The redevelopment has deep roots in Little Tokyo’s story. The family representative of the Hamanos who ran the Umeya Rice Cake Co., approached LTSC in 2016 — about a year before its shutdown.

“Rex Hamano said his family wanted to remain connected to Little Tokyo, even though the neighborhood had changed,” said Takao Suzuki, the nonprofit’s co-executive director. “He also thought that LTSC would be good stewards to carry on the Little Tokyo tradition.”

Members of the Hamano family that founded the Umeya brand pose in an undated portrait.

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Japanese American National Museum (Gift of the Hamano Family)

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Suzuki said the family could have fetched more for the property from a market-rate developer but chose to sell to the nonprofit for about $8 million.

The residential complex, which cost about $106 million in total, is the first brand-new multifamily affordable housing development LTSC has built since 1996, Suzuki said.

Bridging the gap

Beyond honoring the past, Suzuki said the project has strengthened ties between Little Tokyo and Skid Row. Historically, he said, there's been tensions between the neighborhoods, with Little Tokyo business owners worried about the effects of homelessness and public safety on their neighborhood.

“We kind of felt like it was our moral obligation to try to not just build affordable housing, but to use the space as a way to bridge the two communities further,” Suzuki said.

LTSC has located most of its homeless services team at Umeya and forged partnerships with local Skid Row artists through the Los Angeles Poverty Department as well as with nearby service providers like Downtown Women's Center.

A little girl poses in an undated photo with gift boxes of Umeya rice snacks.

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Japanese American National Museum

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Gift of the Hamano Family, courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum

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To remember the site’s Little Tokyo ties, Umeya signage salvaged by construction crews after the factory was razed with all but the original footings will be featured in a timeline exhibit in the building’s lobby.

The Japanese American National Museum, which was gifted artifacts from the Hamano family, will collaborate with the service center on the exhibit.

Building more than housing

The opening of the Umeya marks a period of growth for LTSC. The organization currently manages 26 residential properties, nearly all affordable, with about 500 more units under construction across Los Angeles — from Chinatown to Boyle Heights to Long Beach.

“It’s definitely a busy time for us,” said Suzuki, who became co–executive director just two months ago. “Housing is harder and harder to build, but projects like Umeya show what’s possible when community and legacy come together.”

Timothy Mason has started cooking again in his new studio apartment at the Umeya in downtown L.A.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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Mason said having a yearlong lease at Umeya has not only given him stability, but has him thinking of life beyond it.

“Life is about evolving, elevating, pushing yourself to higher limits,” he said. “I want a house one day.”

On his refrigerator are certificates he earned while in rehab and outpatient treatment for years of crystal meth and PCP use.

Timothy Mason uses his studio apartment as a place to study toward becoming an addiction counselor.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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He now has a custodial license and is a registered alcohol and drug technician. Walking around the ground floor of the building, he points to a community room that isn’t open yet. When it is, he has a plan.

“I’m going to start a Narcotics Anonymous meeting here,” he said. “To see another person recover like I did — you’re saving a life.”