Imōto (Sister): Sister City Exhibit

Kashima Jingu Ichi no Torii

Imōto (Sister), an exhibit of photos of Kamisu, Japan, Eureka's Sister City, by Holly Harvey and the Horai Center at Studio 424, 424 Third Street, Eureka. An opening reception will be held during Arts Alive!, Dec. 3,  2016 from 6-9 p.m. The exhibit and opening are a fundraiser for the Sister City Association, and a portion of gallery sales will benefit the association.

About the show

Some words for familial relationships in the Japanese language are relative (no pun intended). There are unique words, for example, to describe the relationships within your family that are different from the words used to describe the relationships between someone else's family. Likewise, the words for sister are linked to the age of the individuals, with unique words for older and younger sisters. Ane 姉 means older sister and imōto 妹 means younger sister.

Eureka and its sister city of Kamisu, Japan, have a similarly complicated relationship. Based on the age of each city, Kamisu should be the older having been settled as a village since before Japan’s Middle Ages (Eureka was incorporated a city in 1874). However, the modern city of Kamisu was formed in 2005 by a merger of the former town of Kamisu and the neighboring town of Hasaki. As such it is a little older than ten years, making it the younger of the two.

The city commemorated its 2005 incorporation with a ceremony in August of 2015. It invited its Sister City Eureka to attend, and Harvey II and Holly Harvey of the Ink People’s DreamMaker program Horai Center represented the City of Eureka at the ceremony. The photographs in this exhibit were taken during a brief introduction to Kamisu’s people, her industry, natural beauty and cultural treasures. The contrast of the ancient and the modern was a source of constant fascination.

You may view the exhibit in an online gallery here.

Mounted prints are $75.00 each. A portion of the proceeds from this exhibit benefit the Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Association. Inquiries for additional prints are welcomed. (Obi are for display only and are not for sale.)

About Kamisu

Kamisu is port city with a population of 93,550 about 55 miles northeast of Tokyo. Kamisu and the surrounding area is considered rural by Japanese standards. Originally a fishing and farming region, it has grown rapidly in the years following World War II. It is home to one of the world’s largest artificially-created deep water ports in Asia, and because of its proximity to Tokyo it is ideally situated for the region’s cargo shipping, light and heavy industry, power generation and clean energy development. The region is still renowned for its agriculture, especially green bell peppers, or piman, which are shipped fresh daily to Tokyo. Despite modernization and trending industry — and perhaps because of it — the people of Kamisu cherish their cultural heritage and natural resources.

Relationships are fragile, complicated things. We are born into them as infants. We create new ones with each person we meet. We try to end them with a mouse click. Taken for granted, relationships languish. Given attention, they may flourish.

About the Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Association

The EKSCA works to maintain the sister city relationship and to foster cultural exchange and mutual understanding between the citizens of the two cities. It is developing a network for, student exchanges and family home stays. For more information, visit www.eureka-kamisu.org or connect with us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/EKSCA.

The Horai Center is a DreamMaker Program of the Ink People Center for the Arts.

Updated Dec. 9, 2016

The Port of Kashima

Eureka tour boat at the Port of Kashima. Holly Harvey

The Port of Kashima, adjacent to Kamisu -- the Sister City of Eureka, California -- is one of the world’s largest artificially-excavated ports. Kamisu (神栖市 Kamisu-shi) is a port city located in Ibaraki Prefecture on the east coast of Japan. As of March 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 93,551 and a population density of 635 persons per km². The total area is 147.24 km2 (56.85 sq mi).

The depth of outer port channel is 24m (26yd), the center channel is 19m (20yd) and both south and north channels are 10m (10yd).

Kamisu and the Port of Kashima from the air. Wikipedia

The Port of Kashima and surrouding area Google Maps

History

The earliest development of the area's waterways date to 1654. Over the centuries, rivers and canals were dredged and deepened to accommodate the needs of the region, including a canal that extended to Edo (Tokyo) Bay. Silting and flooding presented constant difficulties.

In 1960 Ibaraki Prefecture conceived a plan for the development of the port. Construction began in 1962 and the harbor opened its port in 1969.  

Read more about the history and development of the port here: http://city.kashima.ibaraki.jp/english/1005.htm

The Port of Kashima

Cargo ship with spill containment boom. Holly Harvey

About 13,000 ships come in and out of the port per year. The amount of cargo handled at the Kashima Port is about 65 million tons per year. Imported cargos make up 60% of total cargo handled. Common items are iron, stone, crude oil, coal, and corn.

Cargo ship and tugs near harbor entrance. Holly Harvey

There are nine tugs at Kashima Port and they are operated about 7,000 times in a year.

Cranes and silos. Holly Harvey

There are 4 public wharfs and 20 company-owned wharfs in the Kashima Port. Each wharf has their own equipment such as cranes and loading docks. Cargo handling machines differ for the types of cargo.

Gantry cranes unload bulk items. Loading arms connect pipelines between ground and ship for liquid items such as crude oil. Company-owned wharfs handle their own products and materials. At the public wharf, many types of cargo are handled including containers, bulk grain and cargo over the size limit of containers.

Ship hangars Holly Harvey

Grain silos Holly Harvey

Cargo ship in the port, wind farm in the distance. Holly Harvey

Cranes in the port, wind farm in the distance Holly Harvey

Hasaki Wind Farm

The 43 windmills at the wind farm generate 76,100 kW (Nov. 2015).

Hasaki Wind Farm skyseeker/Creative Commons

The windmills generate enough electric power for about 46,200 households. There are 38,879 households in Kamisu (July 2015). The amount of power generated by the windmills would cover the entire household electrical needs of Kamisu city, however it is actually sent to the Tokyo area.

Environmental assessments were required prior to construction to evaluate effects on wildlife.

Kamisu city officials cite that each windmill has an output of 2,000 kW and an estimated speed of 11.1-19.6 rotations per minute. Bird strikes are uncommon.

Kamisu was chosen because of its suitable location  for wind power generation. The windmills were constructed by private enterprise (Eco Power Corporation).

According to research by the Japan Wind Power Association, it costs $6 million USD to build an average windmill that generates 2,000 kW. Equipment costs make up 58.3% of the figure, and the rest is spent for engineering work, conveyance and assembling.

An offshore wind farm is in the planning stages:
http://www.offshorewind.biz/tag/kashima-port/
https://www.offshorewind.biz/?s=kashima [updated 12/17/19].

Murals adorn the sea wall along this stretch of coastline.

Windmill and mural. Holly Harvey

Murals along the sea wall. Holly Harvey

Mural of Kashima Port's Observation Tower
and Kashima Shrine's Ichi no Torii. Holly Harvey

This mural attests to the popularity of surfing
along this stretch of coastline. Holly Harvey

Kamisu city has an interest in renewable energy to protect the environment and address the issue of global warming, however, they do not have an exact plan yet.

Recreation

A double-deck touring boat, Eureka, takes passengers on a 45 minute trip around Kashima Port, passing enormous tankers and industrial facilities.  http://www.kashimafuto.co.jp/eureka/index.html

Eureka tour boat. Holly Harvey

Eureka tour boat. Holly Harvey

A 52-meter-high (171 feet) Observation Tower in Minato Park commands a breathtaking view of the Kashima coastal industrial area.

Minato Park Observation Tower Holly Harvey

Kashima Harbor Fishing Park is a facility built at the mouth of the harbor for recreational fishing. There are charter boats, equipment rentals and restroom facilities.

Living the Dream

It is with gratitude that we offer this guest post from Fred Nelson, a stalwart supporter of the Eureka-Kamisu Sister City relationship. Fred, along with several locals, hosted, drove and toured with a Japanese family as they realized a man's long-time dream to visit the redwoods of Northern California.

Prairie Creek State Park / Redwood National and State Parks

This month I had the pleasure of being part of a group that entertained some out of town guests. I drove a family of four on a sightseeing trip of Eureka and Humboldt County for three days. The family of four consisted of an elderly grandfather who lives in Kamisu, Japan, his daughter and son-in-law and his eleven year old granddaughter who live in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Nishijima had dreamed for a number of years of making a trip to our area and found that he could make it a reality this year although he is in ill health. Being involved in such a visitation was an honor and a privilege for me. 

 In 2008 I had been the driver for a delegation of officials from Kamisu, Japan who came here on an official visit as members of the Kamisu International Friendship Association (KIFA), the driving force behind the Kamisu-Eureka Sister City program. Although Mr. Nishijima is a retired director of KIFA, his visit was not in an official capacity but as a family pleasure trip. Mr. Nishijima had been in touch with a friend and associate whom I had become acquainted with at the time of the 2008 KIFA official visits to Eureka. She had given him my name as a possible contact. With the family’s permission, I set up a three day itinerary which had to be changed a number of times. Unexpected flight delays and our local McKinleyville fog saw to that. The big disappointment was the cancelation of a one hour tour of Humboldt State University. The family was able to meet two of the people who were responsible for arranging the tour, but only for a brief period.

During the three day stay the family was able to enjoy Eureka’s Sequoia Park and Zoo, our Redwoods to the North and South of us along with our amazing scenery plus they were able to taste some of our local cuisine. One of the challenges that faced all parties during the stay was the language barrier. I must say that the Japanese try much harder to understand the English language that we do the Japanese. Did I find the language barrier a bit much? Not really! Naturally it does slow down the conversation somewhat but it does make you pay closer attention to the subject matter that is being conveyed.

Hosting a Japanese family is most rewarding and helps build our Japanese/United States relations. Those locals that have visited Japan over the past number of years have been very warmly received. This should be a ‘two way street’. I would ask you that the next time a Japanese visitor is announced locally, feel free to contact the City of Eureka and volunteer your services even though they might be limited to a friendly “welcome and hello.”

— Fred Nelson

Fred Nelson was stationed in Japan during his time in military service. He is retired and lives in Eureka, California.

New Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Website Launched

Behold the brand-spankin' new Eureka-Kamisu Sister City website:

And a big round of applause to developer Johnson Tilghman!

Horai Center Attends Sister City Celebration

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.

Harvey II at the Eureka City information booth

Harvey II at the Eureka City information booth

The booth featured posters, maps, pamphlets and
a computer slideshow about Eureka and Humboldt County. 

Redwood Grove adjacent to the Kamisu Cultural Center

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.

The gazebo is opposite the Cultural Center across a large pond

A gazebo "For friendship between Eureka and Kamisu,

presented by Mr. Eric Hollenbeck, 1994.9.19"

Gazebo detail

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.

The tour boat Eureka

Aboard the Eureka

International shipping

Wind turbines and construction along the waterfront

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.

To Make a Long Story Short, Join Us For Tea

It feels as though this should begin with a confession: It has been two years since our last tea demonstration.

Two years ago we had good momentum and enthusiasm for our projects, especially the re-energized Eureka-Kamisu Sister City committee. After a good start, things seemed to stall. Later, we had a death and illnesses in our families. We lost our enthusiasm for outreach and fell out of touch with an unraveled Sister City committee. Things still must have been going on behind the scenes, however, and this spring we received a surprising phone call from the Eureka mayor's office that they had received a letter from the city of Kamisu.

It is a wonderful feeling to know that the relationship has been re-energized, and along with it our zeal for sharing the Tea Ceremony with the public. Please join us at the Humboldt State University Library Fishbowl on Wed., July 1, from noon to 1:00 p.m. We will share tea and an update on the Sister City association. Visit our Facebook event page for more details, or email horai.center@gmail.com

Sharing Tea on a Beautiful Day

Last Sunday we offered a demonstration of Cha-no-yu on Eureka's Old Town Gazebo. What a glorious day it was! For several weeks we had been deluged with rain storm after rain storm, but the sun shone brightly on the weekend of our demonstration. There were even a few cherry blossoms left on the trees for us to enjoy.

Some blossoms remained on the Eureka Gazebo

Preparations for Chabako temae --
a tea ceremony to be enjoyed outdoors

Harvey-sensei performs Chabako temae for
Holly (center) and several guests; Pia is assisting Harvey.
Laura (not pictured) also assisted and took photos.

Harvey-sensei serves tea

Barry and Louisa Evans of the Arcata Zen Group joined us

Holly serves tea while Harvey answers questions

Several members of members of the Arcata Zen Group joined us and presented an information table. A gentleman is growing tea plants in his Eureka garden and wanted to learn more about tea culture and cultivation. Another gentleman who had just toured the visiting Lady Washington tallship bought a brick of tea on board, and brought it to show us and other guests. It looked just like this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/BlackTeaBrick.jpg

Our gratitude is never-ending for the assistance of Laura and Pia and all of "Team Horai," who are vital to our mission and instrumental to our presentations. We also extend a special "thank you!" to Charlotte MacDonald of the Eureka Main Street organization for her assistance with organizing our demonstration. And most of all, we thank our warm and friendly guests, both old friends and new. Everyone who attended has our gratitude for making our demonstrations possible and creating connections by the sharing of tea.

Humboldt Ohanami

One of the best displays of sakura, cherry blossoms, in our little town is on the Old Town Gazebo here in Eureka, Calif.

Stand beneath them, crane your head upward, their soft pinkness embraced by the blue spring sky. Petals drift like snowflakes, covering the cobblestone sidewalk.

Later this month, on April 22, we will demonstrate Cha-no-yu here on the Gazebo. Look in our upcoming events for details. Perhaps there will be some cherry blossoms!

Eureka Sakura Update, April 3

The Old Town Gazebo sakura are at their peak!

Gamelan Performance During Eureka Arts Alive!

Eureka's monthly arts night, Arts Alive!, is a remarkable showcase for the area's diverse artistic talents. In May, we stumbled upon a performance by Gamelan Sekar Sequoia (pictured above), a community-based gamelan ensemble. If you're unfamiliar with this traditional Indonesian music, search YouTube.com take a listen: it's percussive, melodic and magical. Live gamelan music is a special treat. 

Gamelan Sekar Sequoia will treat your ears with a free live performance during Arts Alive! Saturday, Nov. 6, 6-9 p.m. at Indah Bali, 440 F St., Eureka.

For more information about Arts Alive! call 707-442-9054.

Hands across the water

I'm watching a television program (Africa Trek) about a French couple who walked the length of Africa – " from Cape to Kili." As I watch, I wonder what possessed them to engage in such a journey, trekking from one stranger's house to another, sometimes through dangerous territory. In tonight's episode, Sonia Poussin makes a comment about how they generally haven't stayed in one place long enough to make many friends, but in this episode they linger with some Masai in Tanzania, enjoy their hospitality and, yes, friendship.

What makes us want to reach out to strangers? Are we seeking to connect with a distant cousin, or looking for something better, or perhaps greater, than ourselves? Sometimes, as I sit in the chashitsu with my friends, I ask myself these questions. I look into my tea bowl as though it's a crystal ball. The tea doesn't answer. Yet we are friends and we return to each other again and again.

In the previous post I briefly mentioned our introduction to meeting delegates from Eureka's sister city, Kamisu, Japan. I have been interested in our Sister City for many years, yet – for whatever reason – we haven't made a connection. But fortune smiled on us this time and friend Tony Smithers, director of the Eureka Humboldt County Convention and Visitor Bureau, invited us to join him and his wife, Eileen, to have dinner with the delegation.

Dinner was in Myers Flat at The Groves. After a bit of wine at the adjacent Riverbend Cellars tasting room. (Allow me to sneak in a small song of praise for the Syrah — beautiful — and the duck — cooked to order.) Food and wine aside, our partners at table were the centerpiece: Ariko Sekine, English translator and HSU wildlife major, and Mitsuko Sunouchi, Vice Executive President of the Kamisu International Friendship Association.

After introductions we settled into sipping wine, snacking on grilled oysters and sharing stories. We learned the delegation was in Humboldt County only for three days, then would spend one day in San Francisco before flying home to Japan. They toured the city of Eureka, took a cruise of Humboldt Bay on the MV Madaket and learned about Humboldt Bay's famed oyster production. They saw the redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants and drove through the Drive Through Tree. Three days are not nearly enough time to enjoy all that the area has to offer.

Perhaps it's not so important why we're friends, but rather that we are friends. We put differences aside, we find common interests to share, we sip wine and share stories. And drink tea.

About Eureka's Sister City program

The Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Corporation was founded in 1991. Kamisu is a port city on Japan's east coast. The Sister City relationship offers an opportunity for the two cities to gain valuable benefits through exchanges of art, culture, education, and commerce.
Exchanges promote goodwill, broaden understanding and create lasting friendships between community members. The Sister City Corporation provides an ideal opportunity for individuals to have a role in developing understanding between the people of Japan and the United States of America.
— City of Eureka city plan

More

Sister city residents explore Eureka -- The photo is from the Kamisu International Friendship Association website [and originally posted on the website of the now-closed Eureka Reporter]. It shows the delegation in front of Eureka's famed Carson Mansion. On the far left is Masami Nagai, City Clerk Planning Division; second from left is Mitsuko Sunouchi. We regret not learning all the names of the delegates. (Send us names! We'll post them!)

http://www.kifa-global.jp/info/2008-11/11_eureka_english.html
 

More Eureka Reporter links to stories about Kamisu-Eureka sister city relations

Update 11/12/08 The Eureka Reporter has folded and taken down its website as part of an agreement with the Times-Standard (see North Coast Journal).