Sister and Friendship City Day Commemorative Events
～Introducing Sister and Friendship Cities to Hiroshima Citizens～
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The City of Hiroshima has established Sister and Friendship City Days for each of the six overseas sister and friendship cities and holds commemorative events.
The aim of the events is to have Hiroshima citizens feel a greater affinity with these cities, and develop a deeper understanding of the importance of having friendly relations.
From 2003, the City has consigned the organization of these events to this Foundation.
The MCs for the events were the Hiroshima Messengers selected through a public selection process.
Montreal Day
On July 10, 2016, a commemorative event for Montreal Day was held in the multi-space area on the 6th floor of the department store Fukuya in front of Hiroshima Station.
The event was organized by the 2016 Montreal Day Executive Committee.
The event started with tasting of maple water and original maple rusks from Hiroshima City Social Welfare Corporation Hiroshima Minaga-en.
At the commemorative ceremony, there were speeches from the organizers and a video message from the Mayor of Montreal, as well as speeches from guests–a representative of the Quebec Province Office in Japan and the First Secretary of the Embassy of Canada in Japan.
Next, the Hiroshima Messengers Jean-Bernard Gariepy and Miho Kawamoto held a quiz on Montreal City where visitors could participate, and a present was awarded to the winner.
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There was a humorous commemorative performance by the Canadian street performer Jeremy Eaton, which involved the whole audience, and the venue was filled with laughter and applause.
There was also a fun lottery draw with maple syrup and other local specialties as prizes, an exhibition introducing Montreal and Canada, display and sales of specialty products, and an explanation of Cirque de Soleil's show TOTEM.
There were around 400 visitors to the event, and they deepened their understanding of Montreal and Canada while enjoying food and artistic culture.
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Commemorative performance by Jeremy Eaton
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Volgograd Day
On September 11, 2016, a commemorative event for Volgograd Day was held in Hiroshima International House.
The event was organized by the 2016 Volgograd Day Executive Committee.
Visitors who completed registration viewed the panel display section introducing the Russian city Volgograd, which also had displays of traditional Russian crafts, photographs of Volgograd scenery and displays of commemorative gifts.
High school and university students from Hiroshima who visited Volgograd in August to attend the International Youth Conference for the Peace in the Future provided explanations of the exchange activities they were involved in.
Next, at the food and culture experience section, visitors listened to a live piano performance by Kaduki Tanaka while enjoying the classic dish of borsch, black bread and other Russian food, as well as Georgian wine.
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Singing by Hiroshima Choir (above) and a violin and dance performance by the 2 Hiroshima Messengers (below)
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At the ceremony in the hall, there were speeches by the head of the Executive Committee and the Mayor of Hiroshima, and messages from the Mayor of Volgograd and the Consul General from the Russian Consulate General in Osaka were read out respectively by the Hiroshima Messengers Ekaterina Simakina and Chiharu Kando.
The two Messengers also organized a presentation, where they used photos that were taken when they went to Volgograd in July to provide an introduction to Volgograd's streetscape, tourism, cuisine, famous people and more.
They also held a quiz and simple Russian language class.
They ended their presentation with Ekaterina playing the violin and Ms. Kando performing a Russian dance, and the venue was filled with loud applause.
Next was a Russian music concert.
The Hiroshima Choir performed various different Russian songs.
There was a fun lottery draw with Russian goods as prizes, and after the quiz the Hiroshima Choir appeared once again to lead lively singing with the audience.
There were about 240 visitors on the day and it helped to strengthen ties of exchange between the sister cities.
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Chongqing Day
On October 23 last year, a commemorative event for Chongqing Day was held at JMS Aster Plaza.
The event was organized by the 2016 Chongqing Day Executive Committee.
Visitors to the event first had a taste of mooncake or mahua (Chinese sweets) together with oolong tea. At the venue there were displays of items given to Hiroshima City by Chongqing City in exchange activities, such as chrysanthemums, collages made from Japanese washi paper and origami cranes.
There were also sections where visitors could try speaking Chinese, making washi paper collages and making Chinese tea themselves, and visitors enjoyed the experience of Chinese culture.
At the opening ceremony there were speeches by the chairperson of the executive committee and the Mayor of Hiroshima, and a message from the Mayor of Chongqing was read out.
This was followed by a presentation by the Hiroshima Messengers Ye Tian and Jing Chen, who gave a clear explanation of Chongqing City's history, cityscape and culture illustrated with photos.
They also led a quiz on Chongqing and a mini-lesson on the Chinese language.
On the commemorative stage, there was a tai chi performance by the members of the Hiroshima Branch of the Japan-China Friendship Association, and visitors were able to
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experience together the slow, graceful moves of tai chi.
This was followed by a Chinese folk dance performance by Ruri Miura, and an erhu (2-stringed instrument played with a bow) performance by Rongchun Zhao, and visitors enjoyed the dancing in brightly-colored costumes and the tones of the erhu.
After the event there was a lottery draw for commemorative gifts provided by Chongqing City.
There were around 190 visitors to the event, and by experiencing various elements of Chinese culture they enjoyed themselves as they deepened their understanding of Chongqing City and China.
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Chinese folk dance performed by Ruri Miura
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Honolulu Day
On November 5 last year, a commemorative event for Honolulu Day was held at the underground event space at the south exit of Hiroshima Station.
The event was organized by the 2016 Honolulu Day Executive Committee.
Visitors to the event were first welcomed by flavored coffee and fruit juice.
The event opened with the classic hula dance Kahiko, which was followed by speeches by the chairperson of the executive committee, the Deputy Mayor of Hiroshima, and a video message from the Mayor of Honolulu.
Next was a presentation by the Hiroshima Messengers Tomonori Komatsu and Syoko Inoue.
They showed photos on a big screen at the venue to explain high school student exchange activities between Hiroshima and Honolulu, as well as talking about the origami cranes made by Sadako Sasaki that were donated to Pearl Harbor.
This was followed by a performance by a Hawaiian band and hula dancers.
The audience was greatly excited by the authentic performance and colorful hula dancing, and the venue was filled with a tropical Hawaiian mood.
The event ended with a performance of the song 'Hawaii Aloha'－the audience all joined in the singing and experienced the Hawaiian atmosphere.
At the venue were Hawaiian goods on display and for sale, as well as a section where visitors could make their own ribbon leis.
Around 500 visitors had a good time as they gained a greater understanding of Honolulu.
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Colorful hula dance performance
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| (International Relations & Cooperation Division) |
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