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Sister and Friendship Day Commemorative Events
～Introducing sister and friendship cities to the citizens～
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Hiroshima City has established Sister and Friendship City Days for each of the six overseas sister and friendship cities, and holds commemorative events each year.
The MCs for the events were the Hiroshima Messengers selected through a public selection process.
Daegu Day
The Daegu Day commemorative event was held at the Hiroshima Flower Festival venue from May 3-5, 2018.
For the event this year, a delegation from Daegu Metropolitan City came, led by Daegu City Mayor Kwon Young-jin, as well as the members of the Daegu City Colorful Chorus Choir, which is made up of Daegu City employees.
Altogether there were around fifty visitors from the city.
They participated in the commemorative stage event and music events held in Hiroshima City, and held an exhibition introducing Daegu Metropolitan City at the Daegu/Korea madan (square).
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At the commemorative ceremony on the 3rd, there were speeches by the head 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.
The speeches were followed by a wonderful singing performance from the Colorful Chorus choir, entrancing the audience of around 800 people.
The Colorful Chorus also performed at the Special Concert Across Generations and Borders held at Elizabeth University of Music on the 4th, with their wonderful singing voices.
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Members of the Daegu Metropolitan City Colorful Chorus Choir (Carnation Stage)
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Over the three days, at the Daegu/Korea madan in addition to the section introducing Daegu Metropolitan City there was also a section where people could try on Korean clothes and a section selling home-style Korean food.
All sections were bustling with families, young women and others, and visitors were able to experience Korean culture.
During the event period there were just over 6,000 visitors, and it was a great success.
Hanover Day
The Hanover Day commemorative event was held on May 27, 2018, at Hiroshima City International House.
At the section for tasting of German food and drinks, visitors experienced the Ueda Soko-ryu Japanese tea ceremony (which has connections with Hanover), and tried authentic German sausages and German bread, as well as baum kuchen cake.
There was also a lutsche lage session, where two different types of alcohol are poured into two different glasses and then drunk in one gulp.
There was a display about Germany and Hanover, which included photos depicting the 50-year history of exchange activities between Hiroshima City and Hanover City and photos from visits to Hanover by delegations from Hiroshima, and explanations of exchange activities given by young people who have visited Hanover City.
There was also a display of exchange activities conducted through the Ueda Soko-ryu chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), a section where visitors could make paper models of Hanover trains, a display and readings of German picture books, an easy German writing lesson, and a display of the 7-seater "conference bicycle" from Hanover.
All sections were bustling with people, both adults and children.
A commemorative ceremony was held in the hall, with speeches from the event organizers, and a video message from the mayor of Hanover.
Next, the Hiroshima-Hannover Partnership Society, which this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of youth exchange activities, gave a report on the history of youth exchange and their visit to Hanover City.
First, the representative of the adult group, Koji Tokuhara, gave his report, describing the enthusiastic welcome the group received from the Friendship Circle Hanover-Hiroshima, the concert of Japanese music held at Saint Martin's Church, the courtesy visit to the mayor of Hanover, the commemorative tree-planting and party, and the visit to the Herrenhausen Gardens and other locations.
He also touched upon the fact that he met up again with his friend from when he did a homestay in Hanover many years ago, for the first time in 45 years, which forms part of the history of exchange between the two cities.
Next was a
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Hayato Shinohara, giving the youth exchange presentation
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presentation by the youth representative, Hayato Shinohara.
He spoke about participants meeting with their host family, exchange activities through athletics and German cooking, and their visit to the soccer stadium.
He closed by saying that during the short stay he felt that the young participants showed significant growth, and said that he would like to continue with exchange activities in the future.
Next, there was part 1 of the German music concert, with a performance of mainly pieces connected to Germany.
There were two performers, Masaki Ueno on the violin, and Akiko Kataoka on the flute accompanied by Miho Okada on the piano.
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This was followed by a presentation by the Hiroshima Peace Messengers Daniel Rabe and Kana Shirai.
They spoke about lifestyle differences between Hanover and Japan, taught the audience how to say the colors of the German flag (black, red and gold) in German, and held a simple quiz about Hanover.
In part 2 of the German music concert, there were performances by two groups: Yoshihiko Ueda on the oboe and Shinri Aratani on the piano; and Takashi Okita on the viola and Chiharu Okita on the piano.
The concert ended with the audience joining in a rendition of "The Wild Rose".
There were around 270 visitors to the event, and through the varied program they deepened their affinity for Germany and Hanover while enjoying themselves at the same time.
20th anniversary of sister city agreement
Montreal Day
On June 4, 2018, the Montreal Day commemorative event was held at JMS Aster Plaza large hall.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the sister city agreement between the two cities.
It was a special event this time with around fifty guests, including the Mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante and the delegation of Montreal; the famous Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, who played in the memorial performance; Arata Urawa, a member of the acrobatic performance group Cirque Eloize that is based in Montreal City; and the business exchange delegation made up of members of the Montreal City Chamber of Commerce and other company representatives from Montreal.
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At the commemorative ceremony, there were speeches by the head of the Executive Committee Scott McKeeman, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, and the President of the Hiroshima Municipal Assembly Masanori Nagata.
After the speeches, Mayor Plante was designated as an honorary citizen of Hiroshima City, and she gave a speech.
This was followed by a presentation about Montreal City by the Hiroshima Messengers Hiroyo Osaki and Tomoko Kurahashi.
They used images to give a clear explanation of Montreal's history, culture and tourism, and the presentation was extremely well-received not only by the audience but also by those from Montreal.
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Presentation of the designation of honorary citizen of Hiroshima City to Mayor Valérie Plante
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At the commemorative performance, the audience was enthralled by the wonderful piano performance by Mr. Hamelin and Mr. Urawa's impressive juggling performance.
Next was a fun lucky draw with prizes including a plane ticket for a Narita-Montreal direct flight for one couple (provided by Air Canada), and a stone sculpture by Canadian indigenous people for one person (provided by the Japan office of the Quebec Provincial government).
All participants were very excited by the lucky draw.
There was also a very popular section in the hall lobby on the day displaying and selling specialty goods such as maple syrup, and it had many visitors.
There were around 700 visitors, and through this event they came to deepen their understanding of Montreal and Canada.
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| (International Relations & Cooperation Division) |
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