Public Diplomacy

When Chigasaki City was registered as a Host Town of North Macedonia, most Chigasaki citizens may have thought; “Where is North Macedonia?”
After being the Host Town, North Macedonia got to win the hearts of citizens of Chigasaki through the various events such as holding of exhibitions about North Macedonia and introduction of its food culture etc. Furthermore, Chigasaki City's junior high school students were awarded in the international art competition “Small Bitola Montmartre” held in Bitola, North Macedonia. As it was difficult to have direct contact with athletes during the Tokyo 2020 Games due to COVID-19, the City tried to cheer them in the form of wrapping the athletes’ images on the City’s community bus.
Thanks to a series of Host Town activities and City’s hospitalities, perhaps, there may be no one in the City who does not know about North Macedonia.

What kind of image do you have upon hearing “Koriyama” in Fukushima Prefecture? Koriyama City and its surrounding area are known as the production area of delicious fruits and Sake, an assembly place of renewable energy research or industrial site of cutting-edge medical technology.
From November 25 to 26, 2021, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Koriyama City co-hosted Diplomats’ Study Tour to Koriyama collaborative core urban area. Inviting 14 participants form 13 countries, the tour was focused on the wide Area of Koriyama which has been showing steady reconstruction since the Great East Japan Earthquake 10 years ago”. Mr. UESUGI Kentaro, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, joined in a part of tour and welcomed the participants.

Katori City in Chiba Prefecture and Saipan signed a sister city agreement online on October 29, 2021. Katori City and Saipan have deepened their relationship for a long time, especially after the rebuilding of Saipan Katori Shrine in 1985. Saipan Katori Shrine is one of the branch shrines of Katori Shrine whose headquarter is located in Katori City. In spite of difficulties caused by restriction of human exchanges due to COVID-19, thanks to the big efforts of both cities, they finally reached to the online signing ceremony . It is expected that by various ways further exchange activities will be developed between both cities.

The Consular Office of Japan in Portland, U.S.A. will hold an event to introduce the wonderful capital of Idaho, Boise City, to Japanese municipalities. In a casual conversation in Japanese with Professor of Boise State University and students, they will introduce the charm of Boise City, “From potato chips to microchips”, where abundant nature and industry, government and academia are close to each other.

In September 2021, the Embassy of Japan in Switzerland held the 2nd “Japan Matsuri” in Bern, Switzerland, in the framework of the local partnership promotion activities. More than 2,500 visitors enjoyed this festival event. Some of Swiss representatives of Olympians and Paralympians of Tokyo 2020 joined in the talk session and reported their impressions of their Host Towns; Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture and Fuji City in Shizuoka Prefecture. They also introduced to the visitors about the consecutive grassroots exchanges between Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture and Bern. The PR booth space for Fukushima Prefecture and other regional areas in Japan was also there. Many visitors and guests had a lot of fun through this special occasion!

GKI, abbreviated name of “Gifu Kenjinkai (Citizens association) International”, was established in May 2021 with the slogan "Connecting Love for Gifu!" to unite the 25 of Gifu Kenjinkai’s associations existing all over the world. Their objective is to build a bridge connecting between the world and Gifu. The members are connected through a regular online meeting. “Gifuseka Project” was also launched with an ambition: Turning more eyes of young generation to the World. In the framework of “Gifuseka Project”, GKI members give lectures online to the local high school students, from a global perspective based on their overseas experiences. With a support from Gifu Prefecture, GKI’s world conference will be held in Gifu and members all over the world are expected to participate.

The friendship can make big smiles.
The tweet that gained the most attention this month was the one which introduced the online exchange between Nirasaki City in Yamanashi Prefecture and Fairfield City in California, the U.S.A. to celebrate their 50th anniversary of the sister city friendship. Every year, high school students visit each city and hold homestay experience. In addition, every five years, the delegations have been dispatched mutually. Even during COVID-19 pandemic period, such kind of exchange programs has been continued in the form of online to keep their ties up. Like peaches and grapes, which are the common special local products of both cities, the bond of two cities will become ripen and further fruitful.