On this week’s episode, we chat about a multiculturalism workshop at Kurosawajiri Higashi Exchange Center and the troubles that come along with living in a country where you might be a non-native speaker. Keiko shares a story about troubles on the way to a wedding in Korea years ago.

感じる　かんじる　feel
入院　にゅういん hospitalization
指示　しじ　instructions
主人公役　しゅじんこうやく　main character/protagonist
親切な　しんせつな　kind
運転士さん　うんてんし　driver

On Catch the Rainbow episode 206, we talk about everything from fireflies to bento.

Keywords:

梅雨　つゆ　Rainy Season

蛍　ほたる　fireflies

止んで （止む）やむ　let up (rain)

条件　じょうけん　conditions

感激　かんげき　impression

揃わない　そろわない　incomplete/unmet

As always, you can catch the broadcast live on air Mondays at 4:20pm, Japan time, here: https://fmplapla.com/iianbefm

On Catch the Rainbow episode 204, we talk about Keiko’s recent excursion to Nagoya and the changing seasons. Also on the table are English Park and Field Trip updates. Also, the Blue Devils get a mention.

As always, you can catch the broadcast live on air Mondays at 4:20pm, Japan time, here: https://fmplapla.com/iianbefm

We talk about preparation for the upcoming Field Trip– we’ll be going to a Manga Museum in Yokote, and making our own soba from scratch, and it’s only 3000円, transportation to Akita included! History buffs will have fun to– there’s something called “Uchigura” in yokote– (regular kura are those white and black storehouses we see around traditional homes) a.k.a. Inner Kura. Those who want to come along should send an email to the office before 6/27!  To: kiah@kitakami.ne.jp

More details about the Field Trip can be found here:

Listen here: 

On this episode, we get a little bit of insight on the process of planning the 50th anniversary celebration of Sister Cityhood, and Keiko talks about some of the ways that other cities have celebrated in the past.

This time, we have a full translation, with some key words in Japanese for those studying the language. The key words can be found at the bottom, after the transcript. See if you can follow along!

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Audio

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Transcript

Kamada: This is the Kitakami International Assembly Hall news update, Catch The Rainbow. Presently, we have Administrative Director Keiko Usugi with us in the studio. Thank you for coming.
Usugi: Thank you for having me!
Tada: Thanks for coming.
Kamada: It’s been cloudy all day long, huh?
Usugi: It really has.
Kamada: We chatted about English Square and English Park last week. Now we have some kind of English document before us– what kind of subject do we have this week?
Usugi: This is an invitation from the Japanese Consulate General in San Francisco—there’s the embassy, where Japanese people can go to get a visa, but there’s also the Consulate for Japanese people living in the US go to get their visas to go to Japan. The Consulate General is in San Francisco bridging Japan and California. So they, the Consulate General in San Francisco, held a Sister City Zoom workshop, online last Saturday from 9:45 AM, Japan time until around noon.
Kamada: Oh, I see.
Usugi: I copied that invitation to show you. I was first invited to this meetup two years ago, and I joined online– do you remember that a ship from Rikuzentakata, which was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, drifted ashore at Crescent City in the United States?
Tada: Yeah!
Kamada: I remember that!
Usugi: During the workshop 2 years ago, they announced that due to that bond, Crecent City and Rikuzentakata would be Sister Cities. We didn’t have the workshop last year, but this year they held it again. So what was the subject of this one? Next year, Kitakami and Concord California will celebrate the 50th year Anniversary of Sister Cityhood. There are many cities in Japan that have already celebrated their 50th and 60th anniversaries, right?
Tada: Right.
Usugi: Since we were presented with examples of their celebrations, we have a hint as to what we should do in Kitakami City next year.
Kamada: Oooh!
Usugi: So, of those Sister Cities, the relationship with the longest history was one between a city in California and somewhere in Japan. The longest history was with Nagoya.
Tada: Ooh!
Usugi: Surprisingly, they’ve celebrated their 60th! I wondered what kind of things they did to celebrate their anniversary, so I found something regarding that summarized online, and thought, sure, I’ll print it out. Well, I was using recycled paper with something printed on the back, so it was going to be a single-sided printout. It turned out to be something like a centimeter thick stack of paper!
Tada: Yikes!
Usugi: You know, single-sided, because it was on recycled paper? Well, I printed it.
Kamada: You printed it??
Usugi: I was like, wow. A pretty impressive 60 year past. Oh, and by the way, the Sister City relationship? It was between Nagoya and Los Angeles. Also, are you familiar with “Kashiwa?”
Tada: Sure. In Chiba?
Usugi: Yes, in Chiba prefecture. Well, Kashiwa and a city called Torrance are Sister Cities.
Kamada: Torrance?
Usugi: It’s 17 miles due south of Los Angeles. Around 30 kilometers. Closer than we are to Morioka. Torrance and Kashiwa have also just celebrated their 50th. Similarly, Shimada…
Tada: Shizuoka.
Usugi: Yes, Shizuoka. Shimada in Shizuoka and Richmond in America—which is pretty close to Concord. It’s a city near San Francisco. Actually, someone’s from Shimada’s Sister City of Richmond stayed at my house, I just remembered. He came and explored Kitakami after visiting Shimadashi. It was a number of years ago, around a decade ago. Sadly, he’s since passed away. Out of nowhere, recalling the history of all of these other Sister Cities, I remembered the guy connected to Shimada, Geree. Each time he’d come to Kitakami, he’d chat with me about Shimada, and I’d really like to visit it sometime. Today, talking about the Zoom workshop today, it’s kind of unexpected that I’d end up talking about Shimada, huh? Next, we have Shino City.
Tada: Yeah?
Usugi: And Redland—actually I’m not quite sure whereabouts it is, but they’re at their 60 year anniversary, too. Really amazing that even just within the state of California, we have so many celebrations of 50th and 60th anniversaries. It’s inspiring.
Kamada: It really is. There’s a lot elsewhere in Japan, as well, aren’t there?
Usugi: Yes, with lots of connections to various countries. America’s also vast, so it’s not just limited to California. The state of California alone is about the size of the country of Japan. America is just sooo big. Even still, there are a lot of cities in Japan connected as Sister Cities, but I’ve noticed that a common thread among those who have celebrated their 50th and 60th anniversaries is that they’re in a regular exchange somehow with their Sister City.
[8:16]
For example, ALT invitations. Then, continue to have a major exchange every 5 years. In Kitakami, we invite people from Concord to visit us in years with a 5, and in years with a 0, we visit Concord from Kitakami. In Nagoya, it was the opposite pattern.
Kamada: So in Nagoya, on years with a 5 they visit California, and on 0 years they come from California to visit Nagoya.
Usugi: Yes, it’s been going on in that pattern for a long time. After looking back at the previous cases, the Zoom meeting had what’s called a breakout room—the Zoom meeting attendees are all dispatched to various places and have a meeting there. The one I was in, when thinking “What should Kitakami do to commemorate our 50th anniversary,” during the big event, we’d like to have a “hospitality competition.” The reason being, from the start we have a high-school student exchange, but the main event is adults. Of course, the high-schooler’s exchange is important, but if we look at it from a town development perspective—well, the high school students’ experience basically ends at having had a good time. After high school, they’ll likely disperse and go to university or Tokyo, move away. So, essentially, they won’t be able to grow our sister city relationship and return the hospitality they were shown immediately. However, when adults go to the sister cities, they will be able to immediately return the favor that they were presented with. So, when looking for a host family here in Japan, adults who visit our sister city are likely to return the favor and become a host family when the Concord residents then visit us. Also, it is not so common to have mayors doing homestays with each other… you know, for example.
Kamada: I’ve heard a lot of things about it, but I’m not sure if it’s a history.
Usugi: Yes.
Kamada: Yes, there is. I think there will be a lot of things that will come out this year, such as how we are going to change things.
Usugi: That’s right. On the American side, most of the organizations and groups that are making this sister year more active are volunteer groups. On the U.S. side, most of the organizations and groups that are making this sister year more active are volunteer groups, so when we accept them, we have to organize some kind of bazaar to raise funds. Therefore, even if a temporary economic exchange were to take place, it would be difficult to continue it.

13:29
Kamada: I think that economic exchanges are going to be a part of such exchanges, whether it is between countries, money, or by air or by ship.
Everyone: Yes.
13:38
Kamada: There are many challenges, aren’t there?
Usugi： Yes, there are. For example, Japanese sake is booming in many countries around the world, and Iwate Prefecture is the land of the toji (master brewer). Sake making. Iwate Prefecture is the land of the toji. We can introduce Iwate sake. Also, the U.S. is very active in microbreweries, and I think it would be great if we could introduce microbreweries in both countries, but there’s a lot of hurdles.
Kamada: We can come up with a lot of ideas, though!
Usugi: That’s right.
Kamada: Looking at their website, it looks like things are going smoothly, but it takes a lot of effort to be a sister city, doesn’t it?
Usugi: Yes.
Kamada: I learned a lot from you. Even so far as learning about the economy!
Tada: Impressive.
Usugi: Yeah!
Kamada: Thank you so much! Oh, is English Square gaining some traction?
Usugi: Yes, it is. Actually, today we have the Kitakami International Association Meeting and we’ll present the flyer and go from there. Then next week I’ll introduce it in further detail here.
Kamada: Thank you so much.
Tada: Thank you for coming.
Usugi: Thank you for having me.

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Key Words
Key words to listen for (Click hiragana for romaji/english text):

招待

invite

招待状

invitation

話題

subject

招待状

invitation

話題

subject

総領事

consulate general

総領事主催

hosted by consulate general

浮かぶ

floating

浮かんできました

to come up with (come up with an idea, raise questions, etc)

先進事例

precedent cases

大使館

embassy

領事館

consulate

ご縁

fate, tie

面積

area

招聘

call/invitation

出席者

attendees

配分

distribution

周年行事

Anniversary Event/Celebration

提案

suggestion

訪問

visit

50周年

50th anniversary

Transcription:

北上市国際交流ルームの「ニュースレター63号」です。
新年度の事業紹介やイングリッシュパーク・スクエアやフィールドトリップの参加者募集、当協会の新しいスタッフの紹介をしております。

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「フィールドトリップ」今年は７月9日（日）に開催します！　

今年のフィールドトリップは横手市増田町で国指定重要文化財の蔵の街並みを散策し、増田まんが美術館ではエヴァンゲリオン大博覧会見学。
「釣りキチ三平の里」体験学習館では「そば打ち」を体験し手作りそばの昼食を味わいます。

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