MATSU-NO-SUSHI

MATSU-NO-SUSHI

1930s

Donated by the Kawasaki family

Restoration by David Svenson

The vertical Kanji and Hiragana (phonetic) Japanese script is in a style called “grass writing” as it resembles blades of grass drawn with a fluid brushstroke. Beautifully designed and executed, this pre-WWII neon sign from Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood is extremely rare. For 70 years, the sign never left the building where it was originally displayed. When the sushi restaurant closed in the late 1980s, the family removed the sign and stored it in the backyard of the building until donating the sign to the Museum of Neon Art.