Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard participated in the opening ceremonies for the 67th Annual Nisei Week Festival, a celebration of Japanese and Japanese American culture and history. About 150 people gathered at the Pavilion in the Japanese American National Museum on 369 East First Street in Little Tokyo, where the congresswoman joined Consul General of Japan Kazuo Kodama and Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry in a Shinto purification ceremony as part of the opening ceremonies. Congresswoman Roybal-Allard greeted the crowd and spoke of accompanying her father, the late Congressman Edward Roybal, as he rode in Nisei Week parades during her childhood. She also thanked the Nisei Week Festival’s committee members and volunteers for their dedication to putting on the festival each year. Pictured in the second photo, Rev. Dr. Alfred Tsuyuki (center) of Konko Church in Boyle Heights leads Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (right) through the Shinto purification ceremony to kick off the 67th Annual Nisei Week Festival as the 2006 Nisei Week Queen Liane Takano (center, right) and the Konko Church attendant assisting in the ceremony, Ashley Arikawa (left), look on.
