NW26 | Nisei Week 2026 Frances K. Hashimoto Community Service Awards Honoree | Eric Nakano
The Frances K. Hashimoto Community Service Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose dedication, leadership, and service have strengthened the Japanese American community and helped preserve its culture, history, and legacy. The honorees will be recognized during the 2026 Nisei Week Coronation and Awards Celebration on Saturday, August 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Tom Bradley Theatre, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles. Tickets are $105 (orchestra) or $75 (balcony) per person. For ticket information visit the NiseiWeek.org website.
Erich Nakano
Erich Nakano was born in 1957 in Chicago after his family moved there following incarceration in the Heart Mountain and Tule Lake concentration camps during WWII. He moved to Gardena, Calif., when he was seven, and currently resides in Torrance.
His family frequented Little Tokyo to enjoy Nisei Week and to shop and dine. His parents were leaders in the redress and reparations movement and were active in community and cultural activities in Little Tokyo over the decades.
Erich became involved in fighting displacement and evictions in Little Tokyo in the 1970s through the Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization. He then attended University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1991, and receiving his master’s degree in urban planning from UCLA.
Erich Nakano joined the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) in 1992 as an intern, and has been there ever since. LTSC is a 46-year-old nonprofit organization that builds affordable housing, engages in community development work in Little Tokyo, and provides a broad range of social services for the elderly and families.
At LTSC, he has managed affordable housing and community facility projects in Little Tokyo, including the renovation of the Union Center for the Arts, and the Far East Building. He was responsible for developing several LTSC programs, including the Affordable Housing Collaborative – where LTSC partnered with other community organizations to build housing in Asian American and other communities of color; the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program; LTSC’s Child Development Program, and others.
Erich has served as LTSC’s deputy director, under its founder, Bill Watanabe, and the late Dean Matsubayashi. After Dean passed away in 2019, Erich was appointed executive director and served until 2025. After stepping down, he continues to serve at LTSC as director of special projects.