Bellingham leaders will host a delegation of 15 visitors from Japan in July to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bellingham's Sister City relationship with the City of Tateyama, Japan.
Visiting guests will include the Honorable Kenichi Kanamaru, Mayor of Tateyama; Ryoichi Motohashi, Tateyama City Council President; Kenichi Miyazaki, President of Tateyama Sister Cities Board; Mitsuhashi Akiyama, Chiba Prefectural Council Member; other officials, city staff members, business leaders and citizens of Tateyama.
Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said he is proud of Bellingham's long and successful partnership with Tateyama, and believes international diplomacy on a local, personal level is vitally important to global harmony.
"Our similarities bond us and our differences make our shared experiences richer," Pike said. "Sister City programs incrementally but surely lay the foundation for a more peaceful world."
Activities commemorating the 50th Anniversary of our relationship with Tateyama include a gala banquet planned for July 24 at the Hotel Bellwether Ballroom, sponsored by Saturna Capital. Other plans for the delegation include meetings and receptions, visits to city government offices and local businesses, and tours of Bellingham and the surrounding area. The celebration is hosted by the City of Bellingham, the Bellingham Sister City Association, and dozens of local business and individual volunteers.
Bellingham's relationship with Tateyama, Japan, is the second oldest in the State of Washington - after Seattle and Kobe - and one of the longest running in the United States. Exchanges between our cities over the years have included students, musicians, artists, athletes, government officials, medical personnel and business people.
Tateyama is located on the east coast of Japan, about two hours south and east of Tokyo on the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula. The city has a population of approximately 50,000 people and major industries include fishing, strawberry and flower farming, and high-tech industries such as a semi-conductor plant.
The Sister Cities program was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 to create and strengthen partnerships between U.S. and international communities. The program strives to build global cooperation at the municipal level, people-to-people.
Pike said Sister City programs stimulate communities to creatively learn, work and solve problems together through municipal and business exchanges and projects. These relationships build economic ties, helping generate tourism and trade for economic development in our cities.
"Most importantly, the program creates international friendships that profoundly benefit our lives," Pike said. "Many of our relationships with Tateyama have endured and flourished over decades."
In addition to our 50-year relationship with the City of Tateyama, the City of Bellingham has sister city relationships with Punta Arenas, Chile; Port Stephens, Australia; and Nahodka, Russia. City officials and the Sister Cities Board are working to add two more sister cities in the coming years: Cheongju, Korea and Vaasa, Finland.
"May the new relationships we are nurturing today be as successful and richly rewarding as our long-time partnership with Tateyama," Pike said.
Date Posted: Jul 22, 2008
