Aiko Kawaratani, the proprietor of Rafu Bussan, Inc. in Little Tokyo for 65 years, passed away on Dec. 2 at her home in Monterey Park. She was 95.
Her husband, Kiyoshi “Skip” Kawaratani, predeceased her in 2014, as did her younger brother, Keitaro Tokuda of Osaka, in 2017. She is survived by three nieces from her brothers and their families in Japan, as well as Skip’s remaining siblings: Tom Kawaratani (99), Fumiko Ozaki (95), Yukio Kawaratani (92) and Toshiko Masumoto (90), and their respective families.
Aiko and Skip had no children of their own, so Rafu Bussan was their “baby” that they nurtured and helped to prosper for more than six decades.
Born Aiko Tamamitsu in Osaka, she lost her mother early in her life and was raised by her aunt and grandmother. They taught her Japanese calligraphy, soroban (abacus), and whatever else she learned in school, they reinforced at home.
She had a strict upbringing, but Kawaratani said that she was also doted on by her aunt and grandmother, and in many ways she thought she was spoiled and always had nice and neat clothes. She learned to wash and iron her own clothes, which carried over into her adult life.
She was not one for sports, but did enjoy Japanese music and later enka(ballads), television and Japanese entertainment shows.
In her early 20s, Kawaratani worked for the U.S. Army PX in Yokohama, and met and made many lifetime friends who also came over to the U.S. She stayed in contact with many of them and organized reunions of Osaka friends during the ’80s. Over time, many have passed on.
She met Kiyoshi Kawaratani in 1951, while he was working for an American trading company. After a brief period of dating, they married in 1953 in Yokohama. In 1956, Kiyoshi and Aiko left Japan and settled in Los Angeles, initially living in Boyle Heights for a period, then later bought their first home in the Crenshaw area, where many Kibei-Nisei and Nisei lived.
There were many Japanese movie theaters, restaurants and markets close by. While Skip was working for Rafu Bussan Company, then owned by Junishi Onishi and Yukio Tanaka, Aiko got her first job in Los Angeles at Rafu Shoten, owned by Takeo Taiyoshi. It was there she learned and honed her skills in salesmanship, gift wrapping, and Japanese objets d’art. Taiyoshi was a very strict but astute businessman, and Aiko watched all of this and learned.
His daughter, Elaine Taiyoshi, up until recently still continued her father’s store, although much smaller than the original. She oftentimes came to visit Aiko, and considered her like a second mother. The original Rafu Shoten was located next door to the former Asahi Shoe Store on the historic north side of First Street.
Skip jumped at the opportunity to take over Onishi’s portion when he decided to retire, and eight years later, he bought out Tanaka’s portion so that the Kawaratanis could be the sole owners of Rafu Bussan.
Originally the former owners used to travel all over Southern California, from Oxnard to San Diego, to sell their Japanese staples of rice, miso soup bowls, chopsticks, and basic needs of families when they returned from the wartime camps. Farming families in particular placed orders for much-needed items from these traveling merchandisers.
Once Skip took over the business, he and Aiko set their sights on improving and modernizing Rafu Bussan, bringing in more products that no other store carried. 344 E. First St. was the address, and their neighbors were businesses like Nisei Trading, The Kashu Mainichi, Tsukada Company and Wakayanagi Restaurant.
In 1979, the Community Redevelopment Agency purchased and demolished their First Street store building to make way for the construction of Japanese Village Plaza. Anticipating the move, in 1977 the Kawaratanis took the opportunity to enter into a long-term lease at the vacant Sho Tokyo Japanese Movie Theater building on the south side of Second Street.
By then Modern Food Market was a few doors away, the new Bunmeido Building was next door, and lots of restaurants had relocated to that side of Little Tokyo. Remodeling was done in July 1978; Skip and Aiko ran the two locations until they could move everything into the new location.
Because of the sloping floor of the original theater, they had to make significant investments into flattening the floor, and once the lease was up on the small Hawaiian Japanese grill that took up the niche on the west side of the storefront, Skip added that space to the lease, gutted it and made a beautiful large show window and showroom to display his higher-end imported Japanese show pieces of gold Imari, Kutani vases and many bronze and cast-iron pieces.
The former theater sign was placed on a tall pole outside the store and transformed into a fan-shaped sign announcing you were at Rafu Bussan.
In 2015, the owner of the building decided to sell the property, right when commercial real estate was hot. Rafu Bussan had to move again. Selling off most of the inventory that wasn’t going to be continued, they were lucky to find a space quickly at Honda Plaza. Rafu Bussan opened again in March 2016.
Moving from a 7,000-square-foot space to under 1,300 was a real challenge, but somehow Rafu Bussan managed. Although Skip was gone by then, Aiko wanted to continue to serve her beloved Little Tokyo.
She was called June by many of her customers, Mama/Mama-san, Ai-chan or Aiko for those who knew her fondly, Chika/Chika-chan by her friends in Osaka, and for those who worked with for her she was “Okaa-san” (Mother). She was a mother to many, a teacher, a mentor, a confidant, and mostly a giving and generous person.
“She was a strikingly beautiful woman, always immaculately coiffed with short hair, always neatly and fabulously dressed, and loved shopping and eating in Little Tokyo,” her family said.
This community was a second home to the Kawaratanis, who spent long hours improving and growing the business. Aiko felt that Rafu Bussan, as a brick-and-mortar business serving the community, needed to continue for the sake of her long-time customers, and to keep Little Tokyo thriving.
She and Skip also wanted to give back to their customers and community. Although their work did not allow them time to volunteer, they made many donations to various temples, churches and Japanese language schools that asked for raffle and silent auction donations, as well as buying ad space for booklets to help many of the nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals.
The biggest joy they had was the visitation of the Nisei Week Courts over the many years, and they always wanted to give them gifts — items that represented Japanese culture and the store.
The nonprofits that have received donations from the Kawaratanis include Little Tokyo Nutrition Services, Rafu Shimpo Foundation, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Little Tokyo Service Center, Little Tokyo Historical Society, Japanese Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Little Tokyo Public Safety Association/Koban, JACL-Pacific Southwest District, Konko Church of Los Angeles, Zenshuji Soto Mission, Furuya Foundation/Aikido Center of Los Angeles, and Keiro Senior Healthcare.
The last donation was made in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary and to express **kansha** (gratitude) to their customers and friends, the Issei and Nisei who were at the Keiro facilities, for helping Rafu Bussan to grow through their patronage in the early years.
Their final donation will be a legacy gift to the Terasaki Budokan, at the request of Dean Matsubayashi, the late executive director of LTSC. The garden area of the Terasaki Budokan has already been dedicated to their memory. Skip loved gardening and Aiko loved flowers, so it is fitting that the outdoor garden area and event space bears their names.
“As 2023 comes to a close and we celebrate our 65th year in business, Rafu Bussan will continue, but we need people to not only visit and shop here,” the management said in a statement. “All of Little Tokyo needs you.
“Brick-and-mortar stores cannot survive without customers actually walking in, experiencing visually and physically the items for sale; understanding and appreciating the workmanship and intense labor of love that went into our items, and ultimately purchasing it.
“Just as Aiko had pride in her ownership of Rafu Bussan, she wanted all of her customers to be proud and love what they purchased at Rafu Bussan.
“After losing Anzen Hardware and soon Rafu Shoten, there are only a handful of legacy businesses left. Little Tokyo grew because there was a purpose and need to go there. We all need to go back, preserve and support our community so that we all can continue to do business, and have a place for our future generations to learn, and enjoy our culture and the legacy of what our past proprietors, temples/churches and families left for us.”
Rafu Bussan’s longtime employees, Carol Tanita (50 years) and Rigoberto Martinez (30 years), will continue to serve the clientele that the Kawaratanis cultivated over the years. Services for Aiko Kawaratani will be held at Zenshuji Soto Mission, 123 S. Hewitt St. between First and Second streets in the Little Tokyo/Arts District neighborhood, on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 11 a.m. She will be placed alongside her husband at the Nokotsudo located inside of Zenshuji as her final resting place. Other details will be announced in her obituary in January.