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Japanese visit to mark 10th anniversary of sister-city relationship
The 20-member group will include the mayor and city treasurer of Naze, the chairman and vice chairman of the Naze City Commission, eight city commissioners, the Naze Chamber of Commerce executive director and the superintendent of schools. Several wives also will be among the visitors. Accompanying the delegation will be two employees of Nissho Gakuen Group (NGG), a Japanese academic corporation. NGG USA Inc., based in Houston, handles sister city programs as well as exchange study programs and translation. The Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO), the city of Nacogdoches and SFA are sponsoring the visit. From 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the visitors will meet city of Nacogdoches elected officials and staff. Dr. Leon Hallman, SFA director of international studies and programs and coordinator of local arrangements for the visit, said the Japanese requested the joint meeting. They want to discuss similarities and differences between elections in Nacogdoches and Naze and primary issues facing the two cities, and learn more about city government in general, Hallman said. The Japanese also are interested in possible economic collaborations or other activities between the two cities. A signing ceremony in City Commission chambers to celebrate the anniversary is scheduled at 4 p.m. Tuesday. At 4:30 p.m. the public is invited to a reception for the Japanese at the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau. At 5:30 p.m. a tree, donated by Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful, will be planted in Festival Park to mark the occasion. Other activities Tuesday will include visits to Foretravel, Cal Texas Lumber, the SFA Mast Arboretum and Sterne-Hoya House. The delegation will be guests of SFA for a luncheon on Tuesday. On the agenda at SFA is a visit to the Department of Biology, where some 400 seashells donated by Tommo Ishigami, vice chairman of the Naze City Commission, are displayed. The Nacogdoches Rotary Club will cook dinner for the group Tuesday evening at the home of Judy McDonald and Dr. Archie McDonald. In 1995 when the sister-city relationship with Naze was established, Judy McDonald, now president of NEDCO, was mayor of Nacogdoches. Wednesday's agenda includes a stop at McMichael Middle School. At noon the group will attend a combined meeting of the Nacogdoches and Fredonia Rotary Clubs. Naze, with a population of approximately 42,000, belongs to Kagoshima prefecture, located at the very southern tip of Japan. Naze is on Amami-Oshima Island, about 95 percent of which is forest. Amami-Oshima is one of the Amami Islands, recognized as a prime diving location with transparent water with brightly colored coral reefs and tropical fish. Nacogdoches' connection with Japan began 15 years ago when Hallman, head of SFA continuing education at the time, initiated a junior high school exchange with the city of Kagoshima, located on the island of Kyushu. In 1995, SFA also entered into a sister-university arrangement with Amami Nursing and Welfare College, located on the same island as Naze. Naze's mayor, treasurer and school superintendent have visited Nacogdoches previously, Hallman said. Mayor Takayoshi Hirata is in his 12th year in office, having won re-election four times. "He is extremely popular and obviously effective in his position," he said. Hallman has worked with the school superintendent for 12 years, and some in the delegation have children or grandchildren who have visited Nacogdoches as part of the exchange program.
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