LOS ANGELES – Little Tokyo may be around the corner from the Arts District, but there’s also a tiny Tokyo inside a 5,000-square-foot artist’s loft that’s worth a visit.

It was built by Peter Lai, he’s a Chinese-American fashion designer who fell in love with Japanese culture after visiting the country as a young man. 

“This is the lacquer store and I collect all this for many years,” said Lai. “Most of them are one-of-a-kind because they are hand-painted. Why doing this? Because I love all these antiques.”

Lai calls it the "Japanese Cultural Village," and he gives tours to locals and tourists. It’s inspired by small shops similar to what you’d find on the Japanese mainland. There’s a toy store, a stationary shop, a ceramic store, but nothing here is for sale. 

“This is my private collection and I collect all this more than 30 years,” said Lai.

Born in Hong Kong, he started working at his family’s costume business at the age of 12.

He sold costumes for Chinese opera and moved to L.A. in 1980 to study fashion design at Otis Parson. But he didn’t have the support of his family, so he dropped out and opened his own boutique shop on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. 

“Even I’m not Japanese, but Chinese and Japanese, they are a lot of different but they do have some similarity, especially like tea. And I love Japanese tea,” said Lai.

After retiring, he decided to share his huge collection so he moved to the Arts District and got to work. He built a Kabuki theater, a tea room and calligraphy station all for the enjoyment of his guests. 

Originally from South Africa, Lerato Motladi moved to Los Angeles four years ago to study performing arts and decided to visit due to an interest in Asian cultures. 

“Since L.A. is so diverse, it’s impossible to just stick with one group of people and by exploring and discovering new cultures and different people, it helps me grow as an artist, because I’m able to learn how to communicate with different types of people,” said Motladi.

And that’s the reason for Lai’s Japanese Cultural Village.

“I just love to share with other people,” said Lai. “They love Japanese culture, then we can enjoy and have fun together.”