This is the story of a friendship--a friendship that spans an ocean, transcending time and the divergence of cultures.
Out of this friendship, Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and Mishawaka, Indiana, U.S. A., became "Sister Cities." And out of this relationship a garden grew. In many ways this garden is helping the people of both cities see the world through new eyes.
Ironically, the Sister City relationship between Shiojiri
and Mishawaka did not begin in Japan or the United States. It began in the small
country of Java. There, on a train in 1937, Helen Amos, a world-traveling
school teacher from Mishawaka, met a young Japanese man named Kenichi Midzuno.
Their conversation led to correspondence when they returned to their home
countries. However, World War II interrupted the exchange of letters.
After the war, they resumed their correspondence. Then in
1952, Mr. Midzuno was sent to Chicago to manage the Dai Ichi Bank. This enabled
him to visit Miss Amos, and their friendship grew. After being transferred to a
bank branch in New York, Mr. Midzuno happened to meet a group of Japanese
printers who were touring American print shops. One of them was a man named
Hiroo Takasuna from Shiojiri. Mr. Takasuna, who was vice president of the
Shiojiri Nishi Primary School PTA, had brought the children’s school work with
him in hopes of visiting an American school. Mr. Midzuno, remembering Miss Amos
and her elementary school, called her from New York. At his suggestion,
Shiojiri’s Nishi Primary School and Mishawaka’s Battell Elementary School
became sister schools. After this arrangement was formalized, an exchange of
letters, artwork and gifts began in 1964 and still continues today.
The sister school relationship proved so successful that Mr.
Komatsu, then mayor or Shiojiri, proposed the idea of Mishawaka and Shiojiri
becoming Sister Cities. Mayor Margaret H. Prickett accepted the request and the
Sister City relationship was unofficially initiated. Interest and enthusiasm in
this Sister City relationship began to gain momentum. In 1967, Mr. and Mrs.
Takasuna invited an exchange student from Mishawaka High School to live with
them in Shiojiri and attend a year of high school. The following year, the
Takasunas' daughter attended Mishawaka High School as an exchange student.
Other youth exchanges followed and nearly every year since 1970 individuals and
groups from one city have visited the other.
Finally, in 1972, the Sister City relationship between the
two communities became official. During that summer, a delegation from
Shiojiri, including Mayor and Mrs. Hanamura, the City County President and his
wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Takasuna, visited Mishawaka. Before their visit, the
Shiojiri City Council passed a resolution officially establishing a Sister City
relationship with Mishawaka. While the Japanese delegation was visiting
Mishawaka, the Mishawaka City Council passed a similar resolution.
Several years later in 1976, the United States was celebrating
its Bicentennial Anniversary. In observance of this event, Shiojiri presented
Mishawaka with a gift of flowering cherry trees. These trees were planted under
the supervision of the Mishawaka Garden Club in a square block of Merrifield
Park, which was renamed Shiojiri Grove by the City Council.
In celebration of the Mishawaka Sesquicentennial in 1983,
Mayor Robert Kovach invited a delegation from Shiojiri to join in the
festivities. That summer, seven prominent Shiojiri citizens, including Mr. and
Mr. Takasuna, visited Mishawaka. As a tribute to their generosity and their
contributions to international good will, Mr. and Mrs. Takasuna were made
honorary citizens of Mishawaka. All of the other delegates were honored at the
Sesquicentennial ceremonies as well.
During that same year, the Sister City relationship was
further strengthened when representatives of the Shiojiri and Mishawaka Lions
Clubs met at the International Lions Convention in Hawaii. They signed a document
confirming a special relationship between the two clubs. The Mishawaka Lions
Club later donated flowering dogwood trees to the city of Shiojiri. This
project, like the planting of the Japanese flowering cherry trees in Mishawaka,
serves as a constant reminder of the growing friendship between our
cities.
On 21 September 1986 an authentic Japanese room was
dedicated at the Hannah Lindahl Children’s Museum. Designed by David C. Brown,
architect, the project was funded largely with a grant from the Mishawaka Lions
Club. Later the same day, ground was broken for the development of an authentic
Japanese-style garden in Shiojiri Grove, also referred to as Shiojiri Niwa
(Shiojiri Garden).
In June 1987 an eight-member delegation represented
Mishawaka in Shiojiri at a formal celebration of the fifteen year Sister City
relationship. During the course of many social events, home stays and a parade,
new friendships were made and old ties strengthened.
On 23 August 1987, Mitsuhiro Ono, mayor of Shiojiri, headed
a large delegation of visitors to Mishawaka for the dedication of Shiojiri
Garden. Designed by Shoji Kanaoka, the Japanese landscape architect at EPCOT
Center, Disney World, Florida, Shiojiri Niwa contains more than 20 different
varieties of large plant materials, over 200 large boulders and a teahouse
pavilion. One of the garden’s focal points, an authentic Japanese stone
lantern, is an earlier gift from the citizens of Shiojiri.
The 1.3 acre garden is probably the first of its kind in
Indiana. The project took two years from inception to completion and was
financed almost entirely with private donations, including a generous gift from
the citizens of Shiojiri. It promises to become one of the area’s outstanding
tourist attractions.
Thanks to the cooperation and leadership of Mayor Robert C.
Beutter and Mayor Mitsuhiro Ono -- as well as that of previous administrations
in both cities dating back to 1964 -- it has been possible to build on the
international exchange first promoted by Hiroo Takasuna and Helen
Amos.
Reflecting upon the historical relationship of Japan and the
United States, it is evident that international friendship and understanding
can transcend the tragedy and anguish of mistrust and war.
School children of Shiojiri and Mishawaka planted the seeds
of this thriving Sister City relationship when they first exchanged letters and
gifts in 1964. The dream of Shiojiri Niwa has become a reality. Today, we again
recognize the contribution of our youth who raised money to help construct the
bridges in the garden using the theme, "A Bridge to Understanding." May our
Sister City relationship serve as an inspiration to people of all ages throughout
the world to create their own bridges of understanding.
--adapted from "A Bridge to Understanding," a history of the Sister City relationship between Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and Mishawaka, Indiana, United States of America (2000)