Jiro Maestu spends most of his time in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. Along one of its few blocks sits the studio for his cult brand Poche, which has become known for its cat-eared, playfully shaped (see: “smashed cake”) headwear; rarely is there a moment when he’s away. Lately though, particularly over the last year, there’s been something else keeping the designer in the area: ping-pong.
Since 2021, Little Tokyo Table Tennis (or LTTT) has brought paddles to the people of Little Tokyo. The club, which is organized by Jiro and meets weekly at Terasaki Budokan, is dedicated to good, old-fashioned ping-pong and the exclusive sportswear he designs. Through word of mouth and posts on the club’s Instagram (one flyer advertised that if you participate “your mind and body will love you very much”), LTTT has attracted a steady stream of ping-pong players and newbies keen to hang out and make friends. Since its creation, it’s also become a safe and uplifting space for diverse communities in LA — bringing people from all walks of life together, one ping-pong ball at a time.
Having picked up his own share of paddles over the years, Jiro wanted to bring his love of a sport that’s often overlooked to a community he has strong identity ties to. “Even though ping-pong is such a huge phenomenon in Asia, it doesn’t carry over so much for first or second, third generation Asian Americans,” he says. As a fourth-generation Japanese American himself, Jiro also wanted the club to have a striking visual identity.
“Creating a tangible thing that was representative of this club was where a lot of my focus went,” Jiro says. The result was a LTTT signature stamp, which he’s now placed all over hats, scarves, T-shirts, knitted totes — you name it. When we spoke, Jiro was also in the process of repurposing jerseys he bought off of eBay, stamping them with the LTTT logo. Though the club is firmly based in LA, LTTT hats and gear are making their way around the world.
“I get stories from people all the time that come, and they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, I saw this person wearing this hat,’ or ‘Someone came up to me cause I was wearing the hat,” Jiro says. “It’s creating all these friendly exchanges outside of the club, which makes it a lot bigger than it is.”
Still, Jiro isn’t thinking too far ahead, but how he can sustain the momentum as is. “Perpetuating [this] as long as possible, where this community can count on us being here every Tuesday with the same intentions is more important than saying like, ‘Let’s try to scale this!’ Or ‘Where can this go?’ That’s not interesting,” he says. “[We want to] benefit the community of people that hold LTTT very close to them at this point.”
We hung out with the Little Tokyo Table Tennis crew in LA to meet some key players. (You may need to acquaint yourself with ping-pong’s USATT Rating System first to understand just how good, or bad, the players are!)
Jiro Maestu
What made you start the club?
I’ve been playing for four years now, and I just kind of wanted a club down the street from my studio. [The neighborhood rec center said] no, and I kind of proposed that I’d love to start this club and see where it goes. They were supportive after a while!
What did your Tuesday nights look like before the club?
I was most likely either working in my studio or out with friends. Certainly not with as many friends as Tuesdays at LTTT, though.
What does Little Tokyo mean to you?
It’s obviously a historic district in Los Angeles for Japanese Americans, which is a strong part of my identity as a person and being a fourth-generation Japanese American. Also, [with] it being the place where I am every day, and doing this for this community is very important to me.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
I would say my level is casually elevated. I’m not an officially “rated” player by the USATT (official US table tennis rating system), but I would place myself around a 12-1300 rating if I had to guess.
Zoé Blue M
How long have you been coming to LTTT?
I’ve been coming since the start. I’ve been watching my brother play ping-pong this whole time, and then when he came up with LTTT, I’ve been here from the beginning.
What did your Tuesday nights look like before the club?
I was in the studio painting. I’m a painter.
What brings you back each week?
Mostly cause it’s fun, but also cause of family and the community is very close here. It’s one of the things I look forward to every week.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
In the actual world of ping-pong? I would rate it very low. But if I was comparing myself to one of my friends that don’t come [to LTTT], higher than them!
Adrian Tsou
How long have you been coming to LTTT?
I’ve been coming since the very first one. I’ve been to all of them except maybe three, I would say.
What did your Tuesday nights look like before this?
I would just get off work and go home, work on designing and writing, which is what I usually do.
What brings you back each week?
It’s a good place to hang out. In the beginning I didn’t know anyone. I just saw an advertisement online through Poche, and the flyers were just really whimsical and very welcoming. They were like, “You can make friends here. You don’t have to be good at ping-pong.” And I just kind of took that to heart. I just kept coming for no reason. I came without any friends, and now I have so many friends and pretty much know everybody here.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
Maybe three or two compared to world masters, but here, maybe six or seven.
Susan Kounlavongsa
How long have you been coming to LTTT?
Since day one. Literally been coming every Tuesday.
What did your Tuesday nights look like before the club?
I’d just go home and watch K-dramas. Honestly, not eventful at all. Tuesdays are just for chilling out.
What brings you back each week?
I think I come back every week because of all of the people and the friends I’ve made. Also, having fun playing ping-pong, because I don’t like working out.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
I think I started off as a six, but I’m pretty good! I’m like an eight now.
Eva Bella Trillo
How long have you been coming to LTTT?
I started going around February of this year. I first found out about it from Poche. My family and I love ping-pong, and we live in the Arts District, which is right next to Little Tokyo. We were like, “Wow! We have to go.” And we’ve just been going ever since.
What did your Tuesday nights look like before the club?
Oh, definitely a lot more boring. Whenever Tuesday comes around, I get so excited to play and hang out with my friends. It’s also really fun because I get to be active and get a sweat on. It’s just the best.
What brings you back each week?
Definitely the friends I’ve made through LTTT. I feel like that’s just what LTTT provides — not just playing ping-pong, but also making a lot of friends. I really got to know Jiro, and he actually helped me a lot. From LTTT, I got really passionate about ping-pong and even started my own club at my high school. Jiro and his friends helped me buy three new tables and equipment. Everyone’s been loving it, and I couldn’t have done it without them.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
Like a seven, maybe. I don’t know, that’s kinda high. There’s some crazy pros that I’ve played with — they’re just like crazy good. I met one of them and they’re now my coach. My brother and I started taking lessons with him, trying to get better.
Ethan Ming
How long have you been coming to LTTT?
I started coming the second week it started.
What did your Tuesday nights look like before the club?
After work, I’d go home, make dinner, clean-up, go to bed.
What brings you back each week?
It’s just really fun to play. It’s like a nice release to get some exercise in, see all the homies. The community brings me back.
How would you rate your ping-pong game?
I would say I’m pretty amateur, but I think a little above average for people that play here casually.
Credits
Photography Allison Nguyen