In August, a delegation of ten visitors from our sister city, Miki, Japan, came to visit. The delegation consisted of mainly adults ages 30 through 60, along with two college students and a high school student. Why does Visalia have sister cities in Japan and in Putignano, Italy? President Dwight D. Eisenhower encouraged cities in America to form sister-city relationships in order to promote understanding and brotherhood between the peoples of the world. Our relationship with Miki was formed in 1993, to further international understanding through the exchange of ideas, culture, education, municipal, professional and technical projects.
As of 2005, Miki had a population of 85,124 people. It is located south of Tokyo, to the northwest of Kobe. It is famous throughout Japan as one of the oldest blacksmith towns producing high-quality hardware, and holds an annual Miki Hardware Festival. They are also renown for growing a special kind of rice known as Yamadanishiki, which is used to brew high-quality saki. The city was founded along the Minogawa River around 700 A.D. I might add that it has 25 golf courses.
Over the years, Visalia has sent a number of delegations to visit Miki. Some of these have consisted of local political and business leaders, while some have been high school students.
Our recent visitors kept a busy schedule while they were here. They were welcomed on Monday at City Hall and were then taken to their host homes where they recovered the first night from their jet lag. Tuesday was Ag Day as they visited various farms and ag businesses in the area. Wednesday, they visited local schools, businesses, and the River Way Sports Park. Thursday they took the shuttle up to Sequoia National Park where they spent the day admiring the giant trees and the beauties of nature. On Friday they got to see more of the valley as they visited Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno State and Kingsburg.
My family was fortunate to be one of the host families, we hosted Ami Maruki, a 16 year old high school student. She proved to be a perfect match for our two teenage daughters. In the evenings, each of the host families was responsible for entertaining their guest. One evening, Ami, my wife and daughter swam in our pool, and did lap races. Another night we went to watch the Visalia Rawhide baseball team play. We took Ami to see Costco, a supermarket, and other local businesses. She was impressed by how large all the businesses here are. By Thursday night we were running out of ideas, so I took her outside to help me pick some Concord grapes off one of our grapevines. We juiced some of the grape bunches so that she could try fresh Concord grape juice. My wife then came up with the idea of making Concord grape jelly, so she spent the evening teaching Ami how to make that, enough for all the Japanese visitors.
The week wrapped up Friday night with an all-American barbeque and swim party in the Gubler backyard. All ten of the Japanese visitors, along with all the host families, the mayor, the vice-mayor, and other city representatives were in attendance, a total of approximately 60 people. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, and home-made ice cream for dessert. One of the guests, Mr. Tanaka, performed a karate demonstration for us. Then each of the Miki guests took a turn expressing in good English their appreciation to the city of Visalia and the host families for a wonderful week.
I spoke with most of the host families at the barbeque, and without exception, everyone had a great experience. Many gifts were exchanged as is the custom in Japan. Saturday at 4:30 a.m. our guests were off to San Francisco to sight see there before returning home to Japan the next day.
Having lived for two years in Japan and Okinawa as a young man, I am interested in all things Japanese. At one time I was fluent in Japanese, although I do not get much practice using it in California. I was amazed at how much of the language came back to me so that I was able to communicate with Ami and help her with her English in return. She left my wife and I a note thanking us for an unforgettable experience. She indicated that my Japanese helped her in understanding what was going on but that she would buckle down and study hard in Japan so that the next time she visits, she will be able to fluently communicate in our language.
We look forward to more visits from our many friends in Miki and to sending future delegations there as well to learn more of their city and customs. These types of visits and exchanges cannot help but increase understanding between our two cities and our two countries as we continue to form lasting friendships.
If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313. For past articles, visit directfromwarren.blogspot.com.
Warren Gubler
Visalia City Council Member
