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Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Overview Opened in 1980, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) is one of the largest ethnic cultural centers of its kind in the United with professional staff. It is the preeminent presenter of Japanese, Japanese American, and Asian American arts in the United States and home to a variety cultural, educational and community organizations. The JACCC developed and owns it own facilities which include: the five-story Center Building housing the George J. Doizaki Gallery, meeting and conference rooms, and nonprofit community tenant offices. The 880-seat George & Sakaye Aratani / Japan America Theatre, the one-acre JACCC Plaza designed by the internationally-acclaimed sculptor Isamu Noguchi; and the award-wining James Irvine Japanese Garden complete the complex. Located in Little Tokyo, the historic heart of the Japanese American Community in Los Angeles, the JACCC was the dream of visionary Issei and Nisei (first and second-generation) Japanese American pioneers to create a permanent center for the community and its future generations. Mission and History The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) is dedicated to presenting, perpetuating, transmitting and promoting Japanese and Japanese American art and culture to diverse audiences and to providing a center to enhance community programs. The JACCC has its roots in the 1971 redevelopment of Little Tokyo when a citizens advisory committee determined that one of the first priorities was a cultural and community center. The facilities were completed in 1983 with an estimated value of $15 million, and were built with funds raised from the Japanese American community, the United States government, U.S. foundations and corporations, and Japanese business and industry, both here and in Japan. Today, the JACCC considered to be a leading arts organization in Los Angeles and nationally, receiving a wide range of highly competitive grants from sources such as the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department, Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund, The James Irvine Foundation, The Japan Foundation, and many other sources. Programming The JACCC has presented more performances of Japanese performing arts than any another facility outside of Japan and is the most active exhibition space in the U.S. for Japanese contemporary design. Each year approximately 120,000 Los Angeles-area residents of all ages and ethnic backgrounds attend performances, programs and festivals presented by the JACCC. Many outstanding performing and visual artists from Japan have been presented in its Aratani/Japan America Theatre and Doizaki Gallery, respectively, ranging from the Grand Kabuki of Japan to the Suzuki Company of Toga and Kazuo Ohno, the co-founder of the avant garde butoh movement. Japanese American and Asian American artists are also given needed support through the JACCC's J-Town Beat series, providing mainstage opportunities for more established artists, the Fresh Tracks series focusing on experimental work by emerging artists in an informal and intimate setting, and the ongoing AJA series of exhibitions. The JACCC's Community Programs also presents annual events celebrating the traditional holidays of New Year's and Children's Day in an effort to preserve traditions inherited from Japan but also to define and present uniquely Japanese American traditions and values for younger generations. To ensure the continuation of the next generation of Japanese American artists and audience, the JACCC has also developed artist-in-residency programs and artist resource programs, which provide rehearsal and workshop space and other support to artists. In the Japanese Cultural Room, lectures, demonstrations, and small exhibitions highlighting traditional cultural arts such as flower arrangement, classical dance, tea ceremony, calligraphy and others are presented. Each year, the JACCC presents family festivals, performances and exhibitions by Japanese and Japanese American artists, as well as cultural workshops, lecture/demonstrations, and special events. By doing so, the JACCC hopes to preserve Japanese culture for future generations of Japanese Americans and to build greater understanding and appreciation of that heritage among Americans from all backgrounds. [Visit Website] |