Sister and Friendship City Days commemorative events
Hiroshima citizens enjoy foreign cultures
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Hiroshima City holds Sister and Friendship City Days for each of the six overseas cities with which it has sister city and friendship city ties, and commemorative events are held on these days.
The events are led by the Hiroshima Messengers, selected through a public recruitment process.
Daegu Day
The Daegu Day commemorative event was held from May 3-5, 2013, at the Hiroshima Flower Festival venues.
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On May 3, after an on-stage reenactment of the document exchange ceremony of the Joseon missions to Japan, a commemorative ceremony was held, with speeches by the Chairperson of the Daegu Day Executive Committee, the Mayor of Hiroshima, the Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, and the Consul-General of the Republic of Korea Consulate-General in Hiroshima on the theme of "Let's Broaden the Rings of Friendship".
As an introduction to Korean culture and art, there were performances by the Seoul Chung-Ang University percussion group, the Hiroshima Prefecture branch of the Korean Youth Association, and others, enthralling the audience.
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Performance by Daegu Metropolitan City Arts Group
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Over the three days a Daegu Korea area called Madan was also set up.
The sections such as an introduction to Daegu Metropolitan City and Korea, commemorative photos wearing ethnic costume, chima jeogori, and sales of Korean home-cooked food were bustling with families and young women, who were able to fully enjoy Korean culture.
A special venue was also set up on the piloti of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's Main Building for the Daegu Bass Drums that were a gift from Daegu Metropolitan City, with bass drum performances and opportunities for children to beat the drums.
There were around 7,700 visitors over the three days of this very successful event.
Montreal Day
A Montreal Day commemorative event was held at Hiroshima City International House on July 7, 2013.
First, visitors enjoyed a taste of some Montreal cuisine, including smoked meat and cranberry juice.
After the opening ceremony, Mr. Hideho Tanaka, a Hiroshima Messenger, provided an explanation of festivals in Montreal City, and three Montreal residents spoke about how they live in Montreal City.
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Commemorative concert
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The commemorative concert was a jazz concert, fitting for Montreal, which is renowned for its international jazz festival.
A trio of Hiroshima residents, Ms. Yuko Kishimoto, Mr. Tom Southerton and Mr. Satoshi Ishii, performed "My Heart Will Go On" by the Canadian singer Celine Dion and other numbers, to an excited audience.
At the end of the event was a fun lottery draw with specialty products such as smoked meat as prizes.
There was also an exhibition of Canadian goods, a presentation on Montreal International Mosaicultures 2013, and more.
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Approximately 320 people came to the event, enjoying themselves and learning more about Montreal and Canada.
Hanover Day
The Hanover Day commemorative event was held on August 2 at International Conference Center Hiroshima.
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The event included a tea ceremony experience in the style of Ueda Soko, who had a strong connection with Hanover, tasting of sausages made using the authentic German method, tasting of baumkuchen cake, a demonstration of German cake-making, Luettje Lage
(a drinking method peculiar to Hanover, where two different alcoholic drinks are poured into two small glasses and then drunk in one gulp), and more.
All sections were bustling with people.
In the exhibition on Hanover and Germany, there were panels displaying the 30-year history of relations between Hiroshima City and Hanover City, a section where participants could
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Tasting of German-style baumkuchen cake
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experience making paper models of Hanover trains, and a section on German picture books with readings of the books.
All sections were very popular.
As 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the sister city relationship between the two cities, a delegation from Hanover City participated in the commemorative event, and made a speech at the opening ceremony.
This was followed by a presentation on the city of Hanover and Hanover companies by a Hiroshima Messenger who visited Hanover as a member of the Hiroshima City delegation.
Next was a concert of German music, where four groups of professional musicians entranced the audience with a wonderful performance of mainly German pieces.
The event attracted around 420 visitors, who developed a greater understanding of Hanover and Germany while enjoying the variety of sections in the program.
Volgograd Day
The Volgograd Day commemorative event was held at Hiroshima City International House on September 8, 2013.
With a live piano performance as a backdrop, visitors enjoyed tasting famous Russian specialties such as piroshki, Russian cake and Georgian wine, with many praising the wonderful flavors.
At the opening ceremony in the hall, the Mayor of Hiroshima and an official from the Russian Federation Consul in Osaka gave speeches, and read out a message from the Mayor of Volgograd.
Next was a Russian language class and quiz, run by a Hiroshima Messenger.
The Russian language course was particularly popular, with some saying "This is the first time I've felt so close to the Russian language".
This was followed by a Russian music concert.
First, Mr. Ryuji Tanaka, the representative of Hiroshima Chorus, acted as conductor for a chorus accompanied by Mr. Kazuki Tanaka on piano, and visitors enjoyed singing along to a medley including the Russian folk song "Troika".
Next was a performance of Russian songs by Ensemble H[akka], a group of performers and composers
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Displays with information on Volgograd City
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using various different instruments.
The concert ended with a performance by Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble.
The audience clapped and cheered to the diverse Russian music played with a variety of different musical tones.
There was also a display section with information on Russia and Volgograd, craftworks and pictures of Volgograd City, and photos of exchange activities.
Approximately 250 people came to the event, where they developed greater interest in and understanding of Volgograd and Russia.
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Chongqing Day
The Chongqing Day commemorative event was held at Hiroshima City International House on October 20, 2013.
Visitors first enjoyed Sichuan cuisine including twice cooked pork, braised beef, boiled dumplings, and ulong tea.
A Hiroshima Messenger then gave an easy-to-understand introduction of Chongqing culture and tourist information using a video, and there was also a mini-class on the Chinese language.
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At the commemorative concert, the members of the Nijihashi Society (a specified nonprofit corporation) gave a children's martial arts performance, and the Hiroshima Branch of the Japan-China Friendship Association gave a tai chi demonstration.
The concert ended with an erhu (2-stringed instrument played with a bow) performance by Mr. Rongchun Zhao, who came to Japan in 2005 and runs an erhu class in Hiroshima, together with students from the class.
The 200 visitors to the event also enjoyed the lottery draw for commemorative goods from Chongqing City, and gained a deeper understanding of Chongqing and China through the event.
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Erhu performance by Mr. Rongchun Zhao and his students
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In the visitor's questionnaire, 67% of visitors responded that they would accept people from Chongqing City as homestay guests.
Honolulu Day
The Honolulu Day commemorative event was held on November 9, 2013 at the underground event space at the South Exit of Hiroshima Station.
First, visitors were welcomed with flavored coffee and fruit juice.
The event opened with a performance of the classic hula dance Kahiko.
This was followed by speeches by a representative of the executive committee, the Mayor of Hiroshima and a speech via video by the Mayor of Honolulu.
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Hula dance lesson for visitors
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Next, Hiroshima Messengers Ms. Mari Miwa and Mr. Daisuke Toi gave a presentation on Hawaii's history, culture and lifestyle, which included a video on the big screen and live interviews on the local lifestyle with Honolulu residents using Skype.
Next there was a performance on stage by a Hawaiian band together with gorgeous hula dancing, filling the venue with a tropical, relaxed atmosphere.
Some members of the audience came up on stage to be taught the hula dance, and in the end, everyone joined in a chorus of "Hawaii Aloha".
The event gave visitors a chance to experience Hawaii for themselves.
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At the venue were displays and sale of Hawaiian goods, a section where participants could make their own ribbon lei, and more.
Around 500 people attended and enjoyed themselves as they learned about Hawaii and Honolulu.
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| (International Relations & Cooperation Division) |
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