Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) congratulates Sandy Sakamoto (shown on left), chairwoman of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center’s Board of Directors, on the organization’s 29th anniversary.  During the reception marking the occasion, the congresswoman presented the event’s honorees with Certificates of Congressional Recognition.  The honorees for the evening were:  Photographer Archie Miyatake; Classical Japanese Dance instructor Madam Kansuma Fujima; Tea Ceremony instructor Madam Sosei Shizuye Matsumoto; Japanese Garden Landscaping expert John Naka (known as the “Father of Bonsai”); Taiko instructor Seiichi Tanaka; and Actor Masi Oka who plays Hiro Nakamura in the NBC series Heroes.  The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is the preeminent presenter of Japanese and Japanese American, and Asian American performing and visual arts nationally. The JACCC also provides office space to a wide variety of nonprofit cultural, educational and community-based organizations in Los Angeles.  Founded in 1971, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. The mission of the JACCC is to present, perpetuate, transmit and promote Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture to diverse audiences, and to provide a center to enhance community programs.