Kelowna-Kasugai Sister City Association

  Previous Delegations

Delegates visit from June 6 to 8/2015

Kelowna hosted Kasugai Mayor, Futoshi Ito, and a group of delegates from its Japanese sister city.

The delegation included representatives from Kasugai’s City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Sister City Association, Chubu University and the Citizens’ Activity Support Centre.

The visit includes cultural gatherings with members of the local Kelowna Kasugai Sister City Association, familiarization with Kelowna’s Cultural District and newly revitalized Bernard Avenue, a stop at the Farmers’ Market and some wine touring. A group of delegates will also meet with city and Chamber of Commerce officials and tour a number of sites including The Dorchester, H2O Adventure & Fitness Centre, Willowbridge Transitional Housing, City Hall and Kasugai Gardens.

“The last civic exchange visit to Kelowna was in 2008 and so much change has occurred here since then,” says Sandra Kochan, Cultural Services Manager. “The delegation has expressed its interest in seeing how communities can improve services and amenities for older residents. As Kelowna has so much to offer to support active, healthy lifestyles for citizens of all ages, we’re looking forward to sharing this with our guests.”

Kelowna and Kasugai have been sister cities since 1981, fostering a number of cultural exchanges and business ventures over the past 34 years. The friendship between Kelowna and Kasugai is reflected in the beauty of Kasugai Gardens, a tranquil Japanese-inspired park located just east of City Hall.

Guests from Kasugai City, Japan

    November 29 2012

Five special guests from Kasugai City, Japan arrived in Kelowna on November 29th.
They were welcomed by the Kelowna-Kasugai Sister City Association president Cathy Jennens and the host families, Alice Hargreaves and Nagisa Wood.
The group then went to City Hall and were met by Mayor Walter Gray and were presented with an Okanagan Photo Book and glassware decorated the City of Kelowna logo.

The special guests were Michiko Naganawa and Keiko Ochiai who are teachers of Ikebana (flower arrangement). Akemi Yamada another of the guests is a member of the Kasugai Flower Arrangement. The rest of the delegation consisted of Aoba Sugiyama and Mina Ishikawa who are both university students in Kasugai. They were in Kelowna five years ago as youth delegates.

On the second day, the guests from Kasugai were treated to a luncheon at the Sparkling Hill Resort by the KKSCA. They enjoyed a grand tour around the resort followed by a delicious lunch.
The third day, we all dressed in kimonos and went to demonstrate Ikebana at Fernbrae Manor sponsored by the members of the Provus and the Garden Club.

There are presently 144 different flower arrangement schools in Japan. Michiko has been teaching Ikebana for over 30 years at her house and at the activity centre in Kasugai.
Twelve years ago a few of her friends and her started the Sosyun-Kai school and she is presently the head of the school. Sosyun-Kai means ‘to challenge yourself in new creations’.
She has been to many exhibitions in Kasugai and also exchanged information about Ikebana with various people in Korea, Germany and Mexico.
Keiko Ochiai is a teacher at the Saga-Goryu Ikebana School for over 40 years and also teaches Ikebana at her house and activity centre.
Saga-Goryu is a very old and classic Ikebana school and started by the Saga Emperor in the 8th century. The Main Saga school is located at the Kyoto Daikoku-Temple.

Everyone was very happy to see the difference in their techniques and flower arrangement which was enhanced by Jeanne Bates translation during the demonstration.
The demonstration was well received by the members of audience.
This was followed by a lovely evening dinner at the Summerhill Winery Bistro by the 5 delegates and their host families.

The visitors from Kasugai also helped out at the Taste of Japan on December 2 held at Parkinson Recreation Centre.
Aoba and Mina participated as models for the Kimono Fashion Show and later demonstrated various ways to use Furoshiki.
Michiko demonstrated the tea ceremony on the stage assisted by Keiko, Akemi and Nagisa.
Later at a designated table, they showed people how to accept tea assisted by Junko.
Michiko and Keiko showed the audience two different style of Ikebana on the stage.

They left Kelowna and headed home to Kasugai, Japan on Dec. 3, tired but happy to have been a part of so many fun and exciting activities and were so thankful for their host families and the generosity and hospitality shown to them.