Kelowna rekindles face-to-face contact with Japanese sister city

Kelowna and its Japanese sister city of Kasugai have made up for their pandemic-induced separation with a face-to-face gathering at the downtown oasis that formally celebrates their bond.

A delegation including the mayor of Kasugai, Naoki Ishiguro, as well as the vice-chair of their chamber of commerce, were hosted by city officials and members of the Kelowna Kasugai Sister City Association at Kasugai Gardens.

There was an exchange of gifts and the unveiling of an additional plaque at the entrance celebrating the latest family reunion some 42 years since the relationship was started back in 1981.

The gardens, behind City Hall on Water Street, featuring Japanese elements such as stone lanterns, pine trees, waterfalls and a Koi Pond, were created in 1987.

“For the past 42 years we have enjoyed the rich partnership through our sister relationship, and I hope that being here today in this beautiful garden makes you feel at home,“ Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas told the visitors Thursday.

Mayor Ishiguro was making his fourth visit to Kelowna. Speaking through an interpreter he said the relationship has great value.

“This is about Canada and Japan. We have great things we can learn from each other,” noting how impressed he was with the upkeep of the gardens.

For Ken Fix, one of the founding members of the sister city association and its current president, the relationship has helped Kelowna become more curious.

“The opposite of judgement is curiosity,” he told Kelowna10. “When we see our exchanges and all these things connect, we’ve become more of a curious city or more of a curious culture to people from different cultures and countries.”

The Kasugai delegation is in town for a few days and Mayor Ishiguro was asked what he likes most about Kelowna.

He replied in English: “Blue sky, the lake, Knox Mountain and the people of Kelowna.”