Overview Nisei Week is a nine-day Japanese American festival in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, started in 1934 by the Nisei, the second generation, to bring business back to the neighborhood during the Great Depression, and it is planned, organized and run entirely by volunteers. The week spans two weekends: the coronation of the Nisei Week Queen and Court, the Grand Parade through Little Tokyo's streets, the Plaza Festival and cultural exhibits at the JACCC, the Pioneer Spirit Awards Luncheon, and a closing night of ondo dancing in the street. The Nisei Week Foundation, a nonprofit formed in 1999, runs it. On site The Grand Parade steps off on the first Sunday afternoon and loops Little Tokyo with taiko drummers, dancers, musicians, community groups, high schools and floats. In 2026 JX Matsuri, a carnival-style day of Japanese entertainment, food brands and pop culture, ran ahead of it. The Plaza Festival is a family day at the JACCC. Across the week the program in 2026 also carried an anime marketplace, a karate exhibition and tournament, and a cabaret at East West Players. The Coronation and Awards Celebration is staged at the JACCC's Aratani Theatre, and the festival closes with ondo street dancing to live music. Audience Much of the crowd is the community itself. Queen candidates are put forward by Japanese American community organizations, and the volunteers who run the week come from local businesses and corporations, community and religious organizations, college groups, fraternities and sororities. By 2026 the program had added anime and car culture alongside the traditional events. Talent and Influencers Each year names a grand marshal. In 2026 it was U.S. Rep. Mark Takano of Riverside, with mural artist Robert Vargas as parade marshal, and Kara Kimiko Chu of Irvine was crowned Nisei Week Queen. The 2026 theme was Ichigo, Ichie, one time, one meeting; 2025's was kansha, gratitude. Track record The queen pageant began in 1935, when Alice Watanabe became the first Nisei Week Queen, chosen by votes cast with purchases at Little Tokyo businesses. The festival ran seven years before World War II and the incarceration of Japanese Americans, and the community restarted it in 1949. The 2026 festival was the 84th. Little Tokyo became a National Historic Landmark District in 1995. Brand presence Sponsorship is a receipted donation to the nonprofit foundation, sold in six levels from Bronze to Legacy. Every level puts a name on niseiweek.org and an ad in the Commemorative Digital Booklet and brings Opening Ceremony tickets; upper levels add seats at the VIP Reception, the Coronation and the Pioneer Spirit Awards Luncheon, a non-food Plaza Festival booth and, at the top two, a parade float. A company can also sponsor a float alone, donate the opportunity drawing's major prize or fill the Queen and Court treasure chest.