Kitakami and Concord celebrate sister city bond this fall
CONCORD, CA (Sept. 3, 2024) — Some 50 years ago this October, Concord Mayor Holmes and Kitakami Mayor Saito officially established a Sister City relationship. This October, there will be a delegation from the Japanese city to celebrate with us the international link. Every 5 years, we arrange for formal delegations, and this year we will be graced with their arrival.
The City of Kitakami, originally called the Town of Kiurasawajiri, 278 miles north of Tokyo, has 93,000 people and its history includes the amalgamation of nine different villages and towns starting in the 1950s. (Just as we took over the town of Cowell and annexed county land as our original town of Todos Santos evolved into the City of Concord.)
They have a directly elected mayor (a process of which I am jealous), but they have 13 city council members, whereas we have just 5. I cannot imagine how long our Council meetings would go if there were 13 of us! They also share 4 votes in the county legislature; unlike us, we have 1 representative who also covers three other cities.
Like us, they started as an agricultural community, though theirs goes back a thousand years or more, and now are transitioning to a light industrial hub with numerous industrial parks. Their school system is like ours in the number of schools; however, the city, not an independent school board, controls the schools.
They have a spectacular cherry tree sakura bloom in their Tenshochi Park and are known for a unique sword dance during their summer festivals.
Concordance
Our relations are further strengthened by the fact that several Concordians have moved to Kitakami to teach English and spread the rather special way we pronounce Concord so as not to be confused with those other sites on the East Coast. When there was the major earthquake and disaster with the Fukushima nuclear accident, which is only two hours away, our community put together thousands of paper cranes as symbols of our shared sadness for their pain, and we held a candlelight vigil in Todos Santos Plaza.
It is important to remember that being in concordance with one another can also be spread to those in distant lands, where we can share in the same humanity and civility towards one another.
The Concord Ambassadors, who graciously handle the relationship, are in need of volunteers to help with the events planned as well as folks willing to host a Japanese delegate for a few days in the first week of October. If you can make that effort, you will be putting the community’s best foot forward as our people are our best ambassadors to the world.
Send comments and questions to EdiBirsan@gmail.com.