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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0059.000 2004-2006 ~~Y O• -`V DixieKaetsu Harry Kim , Mnyor Mannging Director «,M' ~r~~. Peter L. Hendricks COUNTY OF HAWAII Deputy Mannging Direcor 25 Aupuni Street, Room 215 Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252 (808) 961-8211 • Fax (808) 961-6553 KONA: 75-5706 Kuakini Highway, Suite 103 • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 (808) 329-5226 • Faz (808) 326-5663 December 28, 2004 _ - fA The Honorable Chairman Gary Safarik and Members of the County Council - County of Hawaii Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Chairman Safarik and Council Members: Pursuant to Hawaii County Code, Section 2-166, the following report is submitted on the status of our sister-city programs. Article 31 of the Hawaii County Code provides that the County protocol officer shall submit an annual report by July 31 of each year covering the previous years sister-city activities and identifying those sister-cities for which no activity has occurred within five years. The last report submitted to the Council was on January 13, 2004, so this report is intended to cover calendar year 2004. In accordance with Article 31, the next report will be due to you on July 31, 2005. As indicated in the last report, letters were sent to the 10 jurisdictions with which we have sister-city arrangements. Four responses were received, from Ikaho, Nago City, Oshima, and Sumoto, and they are attached for your easy reference. One letter was returned as undeliverable, and that was to Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal. An effort is now being made to determine the names of the current elected officials through the United States Embassy in Lisbon. Activities affecting our sister-cities relationships in 2004 were as follows: 1. Yurihama (formerly Hawai-cho). Hawai-cho no longer exists, having been ' consolidated with neighboring towns and renamed Yurihama. Mayor Inoue - has retired, and the former Mayor of Togo, Mr. Tsuneo Yamamoto, is the first Mayor of Yurihama. The former coordinator for international relations, Comm. Na• 5 ~ Ref. To: Hawaii County is an F.gua! Opportunity Provider and Employer f ~ q!r ~~y~-y~-Y-~-~- Chairman Safarik and Council Members Page 2 December 28, 2004 Andre Haag has left and the new Coordinator is Tim Hove (e-mail address: timhovena~yurihama.jp~. The new mailing address for Mayor Yamamoto is Hisadome 19-1 Yurihama-cho, Tohaku-gun Tottori-ken, 682-0723 Japan. Before the changeover, Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida visited Hawai-cho on behalf of Mayor Kim. It is also noteworthy that Hawai-cho entered into a contract with Ray Fonseca, and Mr. Fonseca and his troupe performed at the Hawai-cho hula festival. 2. Hualien, Taiwan, Republic of China. A delegation from Hualien visited Hawaii County in November, a trip that was coordinated by Councilman Arakaki and his staff. In addition to various meetings with the Mayor and Council members, the delegation's schedule included NELHA and the University of Hawaii. The delegation was headed by the deputy county governor, Chin-Peng Chu. During a trip to Taiwan in March, Councilman Arakaki visited Hualien. 3. Ikaho. Our relationship with Ikaho remains strong, as junior high school students arrived in August in what has become an annual home stay visitation coordinated by Ms. Amy Aoyagi. This year's group was relatively small, including seven students and two chaperones. Earlier in the year, students from Waiakea Intermediate School, under the supervision of teacher Ikuo Kiyohara, visited Ikaho. In a separate trip, Council member Aaron Chung visited Ikaho. There also was a courtesy visit from the Ikaho Board of Education to Mayor Kim in April, 2004. 4. La Serena. Former Big Island resident Anamaria Maraboli-Smith has informed us that La Serena has a new mayor, the Honorable Serior Raul Saldivar. In terms of the sister-city relationship, efforts have focused on planning a 2005 StarTeacher exchange, similar to the teacher exchange that took place in 2003. As with the prior exchange, this is a project of the Gemini Observatories, and the key contact person is Janice Harvey. Hawaii's teachers have already been selected, and travel is expected to take place in March, although the dates have not been finalized. 5. Legazpi City. No activity. 6. Nago City. In addition to Nago City's response to our request for updated information on its government personnel, Council member Arakaki visited Nago City in March, 2004. Chairman Safarik and Council Members Page 3 December 28, 2004 7. Oshima Island. Mayor Shizuo Fujii's response to our request for information noted that our sister-city relationship has continued for more than 40 years. Although there were no official government visits during the year, there was an unofficial visit to Hawaii from a representative of the Oshima and Hawaii Island Goodwill Interchange Association. 8. Sao Miguel. No activity except as described above. 9. Sumoto City. The Sumoto City International Association sent a large group of students and adults (approximately 25 individuals) to Hawaii in July. During the visitation with Mayor Kim, a new sister-city "Service Agreement" was finalized with the Kiwanis Club of East Hawaii, replacing the Hawaii Florist and Shippers Association. As with the Ikaho visitation, much of the coordination for the trip, including arrangement of home stays, was through Amy Aoyagi, who is also a Kiwanis member. Earlier in the year, Council member Safarik visited Sumoto on behalf of the County. During the summer, Mayor Keiichi Nakagawa informed us that he was retiring as Sumoto's mayor. He was replaced by Mr. Jitsuro Yanagi. In October, we learned that Sumoto had been struck by Typhoon Tokage. A letter of concern was sent by Mayor Kim, and Mayor Yanagi responded in November, informing us that five individuals had been killed and over 400 homes completely or partially destroyed with another 3,000 homes suffering damage. Mayor Kim offered any support that might be needed, and Mayor Yanagi responded that he would contact us without hesitation if such support were needed. The Sumoto International Association, which is primarily responsible for the student exchange visits, is now headed by a new chairman, Eiji Saga, formerly Vice Chair of the organization. 10. Tasmania. No activity. Respectfully submitted, / Andrew Levin Executive Director Protocol Officer Translati®n ®f lefter fr®aa~ i~9ay®r Shizu® Fuji, ®f Oshira~a I~lancl. Japan December 22, 2003 The Honorable Harry Kim We are very grateful that the sister city relationship between Hilo and Oshima- town has continued for more than 40 years. In response to your recent Fetter, here are the following contact addresses that you (Andy Levin?) requested: Shizuo Fujii, Mayor 1-1-14 Motomachi Oshima-machi, Tokyo 100-0101 Japan Shigeo Naito, Assistant 1-1-14 Motomachi Oshima-machi, Tokyo 100-0101 Japan Osamu Kimura, General Affairs Section 1-1-14 Motomachi Oshima-machi, Tokyo 100-0101 Japan We sincerely hope that the sister city relationship between Hilo and Oshima town can continue for many years to come. r City ®ffice and City Council 1Vlr. Iteiichi YeTakagasva, Mayo Suxnoto City ®ffice 3-4-10 Hon~c?achi, Suxz~oto, Hyogo 656-8586 Japan Phone: 011 81 799 22 3333 ~`a~e : 011 81 7.99- 23 2340 dlr. Nlasanobu Okui, Chair Su~oto City Council 3-4-10 Hoaa~reachi, Sua~aoto, Hyogo 656-8686 Japan Phone: 011 81 799 22 3334 ~aac: 011 81 799 22 3092 2~. Haxuhisa Saito, Deputy ~Iayox Su~oto City ®ffice 3-4-10 Hona~achi, Su~oto, Hlrogo 656-8686 Japan Phone: Oll 81 7'99 22 3333 ~`a~c: Oll 81 799 23 2340 I+~. Ihei Sakaanoto, L~lanage~ of Planning section Sunnoto City Office 3°4-10 Hon~tachi, Sua~aoto, Hyogo 656-8686 3apan Phone: O11 81 799 22 3321 ~`aac: 011 81 799 23 2340 1~lanabu Hake, Chief of Planning section Suffioto City Office 3-4-10 Hon~atachi, Su~oto, Hyogo 656-8686 Japan Phone: 011 81 799 22 3321 ~°ax: 011 81 799 23 2340 Suinoto International l~ssociation Ofiice : Su~oto City Office ~-4-10 Hon~aachi, Su~oto, Hyogo 656-8686 ~apara Phone: 011 81 799 22 3321 Fes: 011 81 799 23 2340 Private mass: Yoshishige Oishi, Char 42-2 i7hara, Su~aoto, Hyogo 656-0.054 Japan Phone:011 81 799 24 6869 Eiji Saga, Vice Chair 261-23 5hioya, Su~oto, Hyogo 656-0021 Japan Phone:011 81 799 22 0385 5P'u:cihiro I~uki, Vice Char 1-1°11 Yura, Sus~oto, Hyogo 656-,2541 Phone:011 81 `799 27 0074 Syuji Pukui, Vice Char 138 1~Takagawara 1~?akaga~ara-Cho, SuYnoto, Hyogo 656-0002 67'apan Phone :011 81 799 28 0101 FCazuyoshi 1Ktakaiyaa~a, Vice Chair 1~8-46 iThara, Su~oto, Hyogo 656-0054 Japan Phone:011 81 °799 24 5861 Yutaka Inada, E~cecutive Director ` 300 F~anaya, Sumoto, Hyogo 656-0046 Phone:011 81 799 24 0128 ! ' ~ ~ Y ~',uX`~t17€~ `~-F-~~~~ ~'atf~o Kishimoto •i-905-8540 Mayor of Nago City ~~~~T~',-~r7~ 1-1-1 1.-1-1 Nago City, Okinawa ' ~p~ (0980)5:3-1.212 (~7~~~ (202) Japan 905-8540 FAX (0980)53-6210 Phone (0980)5:3-1212 ext.202 FAX (0980)53-G2]0 ~,q Yoshihusa Miyagi -i-905-8540 Assembly Chairperson of Nago City ~~'~~~r~~~ 1.-1-1 1-1-1 Nago City, Okinawa `~;p~ (0980)53-1212 f~7~7~ (305) Japan 905-8540 FAX (0980)53-G21.0 Phone (0980)53-1212 ext.202 FAX (0980)53-G210 Moriyuki Ogido ~',-~-r~"1^i-_~G{i r-~;~~ l,ti~ Protocol Officer ij;~~~,,T7 Chief of the Central. District t -i-905-8540 Development Promotion Section r~ l~ -1-1 Planning Department, Mayor's office ~p~ (0980)5:3-1212 f~J~~~ (336) 1.-1-1 Nago City, Okinawa FAX (0980)53-6210 Japan 905-8540 Phone (0980)53-1212 ext.202 FAX (0980)53-6210 31_1¢A-li ~ ~ ~ ~ Lti~ Koichiro Nakazato ~ 1~~~~~(3 Chief Staff of the Central District X905-0011 Development Promotion Section 7~4-~r~~"~~ 4 8 7 ~~th Planning Department, Mayor's office ~~~~{~7,x~~~ 487 Nago City, Okinawa :app (0980)51-0123 Nago International House FAX (0980)51-0325 Phone (0980)51-0123 FAX (0980)51-0325 a ry. 4 . 2004=1,~13F~ ~Q> ~ ~ hf~l } ` .i ~a~~4 :,4.:, L_~d~~~o . ~ ~ , o~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ws~ 0~~ I ~9 ~ ~ ~ ° ~ a'~ January 6 2004 Mr. Andrew Levin I wish you a happy New Year. Thank you for your kind informations. I believe they will be very usefull for our sister city relationship . The following informations are you asked in your letter. Mayor of Ikaho -town Shunji Sekiguchi Chairman of Ikaho -town council : Kouji Matsumoto Supervisor of Ikaho-town board of education Takaaki Tomizawa Their address and telephone number are below. Ikaho-town Office 116-1 Ikaho, Ikaho-machi, Kitagunma-gun, Gunma-ken T 377-0192 Telephone number 0279-72-3155 Fax number 0279-72-5544 I hope you are in good health and your prosperity. Sincerely , ~i, Shunji Sekiguchi Mayor