Ten years ago, the modern city of Kamisu was formed by a merger of the former town of Kamisu and the neighboring town of Hasaki. The city planned to commemorate this event with a ceremony in August, and invited its Sister City Eureka to attend. Harvey II and Holly Harvey of the DreamMaker program Horai Center were appointed as representatives to attend the ceremony.
After becoming Sister Cities, Kamisu and Eureka enjoyed a lively relationship in the 1990s but exchanges tapered off in recent years. As part of a campaign to re-invigorate the relationship, Kamisu city staff introduced us to cultural, political and industrial features of the city and surrounding region in the days prior to its anniversary ceremony, many of which have ties to Eureka and Humboldt County. Here are just a few highlights.
The 10th Anniversary Ceremony was held on Aug. 1, 2015 at the Kamisu Cultural Center. We met and spoke with people at an an information booth in the lobby prior to the ceremony. Kamisu city staff organized the booth with pamphlets, posters and a slide show contributed by the City of Eureka and the Humboldt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. We also visited the small grove of redwood trees planted on the grounds of the Cultural Center, a gift from the City of Eureka in the 1990s.
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| Harvey II at the Eureka City information booth |
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| Harvey II at the Eureka City information booth |
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The booth featured posters, maps, pamphlets and
a computer slideshow about Eureka and Humboldt County. |
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| Redwood Grove adjacent to the Kamisu Cultural Center |
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Harvey II (left) and Holly Harvey at the Redwood Grove
adjacent to the Kamisu Cultural Center |
Behind the Kamisu Cultural Center is Kaminoike Ryokuchi (Gonoike) Park. Its main feature is a long pond crossed by a long foot bridge. On the opposite side stands a redwood gazebo built and installed in the park by Eric Hollenbeck of Blue Ox Millworks. It was recently refinished.
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| The gazebo is opposite the Cultural Center across a large pond |
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A gazebo "For friendship between Eureka and Kamisu,
presented by Mr. Eric Hollenbeck, 1994.9.19"
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| Gazebo detail |
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| A shady seat on a hot summer day |
Kamisu is port city with a population of 93,550 about 55 miles northeast of Tokyo. We were given a tour of Kamisu’s harbor and international shipping port from aboard the boat Eureka, cruising past 300-foot-long cargo ships, grain silos, a natural gas power plant, wind-energy turbines and an iron smelting factory among other industries.
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| The tour boat Eureka |
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| Aboard the Eureka |
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| International shipping |
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| Wind turbines and construction along the waterfront |
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300-foot-tall observation tower
offers a bird's eye view of the port |
Horai Center will address the Eureka City Council on October 15. Anyone interested in getting involved with the Sister City association, student exchanges or home stays may contact us at horai.center@gmail.com.
