ISSUE NO.

58• S

UMMER 2006

[JLGC UPDATE] Greetings from the new Executive Director of JLGC .................................................... 1[SPECIAL FEATURE] Municipal Mergers in Japan ................................................................................. 2[PREFECTURE TODAY] The Tokyo You Have Never Seen........................................................................ 4[JETAA ACTIVITIES] My JET Experience, Now and Then ....................................................................... 5[JLGC UPDATES] Building Prosperity Together: The 69th Annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference ... 6[JLGC UPDATES] Mayors Meet in Las Vegas for a Spectacular Conference .......................................... 7[CORRESPONDENT FROM FORMER JLGC MEMBER] Accomplishments of our Local Government Officials Training Program.... 8

JAPAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER (CLAIR, NEW YORK)

Greetings fromthe new Executive Director of JLGC
Shinji Hirai / Executive Director
C L A I R

U P D A T E

It is a great honor for me to salutethe devoted readers of the “JLGCNewsletter”.
I took over as
executive director of the Japan Local
Government Center (JLGC) here in
New York on June 21. Taking thisopportunity, I should like to extend myappreciation to you for your deep
commitment to JLGC and yourinvaluable
co-operationinstrengthening Japan’s grass-roots ties
with the United States and Canada. At
the same time, I want to thank Mr.
Naofumi Hida, my predecessor, for his
unlimited efforts during his tenure
these past four years. I hope to be able
to build upon his accomplishments.
Indeed, thanks to the unstinting efforts
of all of you, and of my predecessors
and our staff, JLGC has gained an
outstanding reputation throughout theUnited States and Canada.

JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

Now, we are welcoming the20th year of the JET Programme thatbegan in 1987, and we have justcelebrated the 50th anniversary of thefirst U.S.-Japan Sister City agreement.
Over the last 19 years, approximately
44,000 JET participants, 20,000 ofwhich were from the U.S. and 6,500
from Canada, have lived and worked inJapan. The enormous success of the
JET Programme is certainly due to theceaselesscontributionsofitsparticipants and alumni, and thegenerous support of all the parties
concerned. Meanwhile, the number of
U.S.-Japan and Canada-Japan Sister
City, Sister State and Sister Province
relationships has risen to as many as
504.
These days, Japanese local
governments are charting an uncertain
future, full of financial difficulties, notto mention a major structural reformof government and society. I believethat there are no national borders that
separate countries when it comes toestablishing effective and efficientmanagement of state, prefecture,provincial and local governments
contributing to the maximum
happiness of their citizens. Even
though each of our countries has adifferent government system, eachpursues essentially the same goals:
providingwelfare,education,community development, economic
growth, public safety, health and so on.
Indeed, we can share our wisdom andour experience for a prosperous futureacross borders.

I formerly served as vicegovernor of Tottori Prefecture, until
March, 2005, striving to carry out
drastic reforms. To be honest, I am
really looking forward to having thechance to witness what is going on in
the U.S. and Canada at all levels ofgovernment as well as, contributing to
the building of a “glorious bridge ofmutual understanding and closefriendship” across the Pacific Ocean
among the U.S, Canada and Japan.
In closing, I should be mostgrateful for your continuing support of
JLGC toward the accomplishment ofour mission. I look forward to working
with you.
With my best regards,
Shinji Hirai

Masthead:
The Asagao,
or Morning Glory, is one of the mostpopular summer flowers in Japan.
It opens in the morning and closes
in late afternoon. In the language offlowers, it signifies short-lived love.

PAGE 1

Newsletter article on Municipal Mergers in Japan
Japan Consolidates
S P E C I A L

F E A T U R E

Changes in the number of cities, towns and villages (Fig. 1)

There has been a history in Japanof the consolidation of
governmental units. Since the
Meiji Restoration that occurred in 1868
there have been two such moments ofmunicipal consolidation (see, Figure 1).
The first, known as The Great Merger of
Meiji, took place in 1889. At that time,a more modern local government wasestablished and so, individually,municipalities need to be able to copewith many new responsibilities. The
second, known as The Great Merger ofShowa, took place from 1953-6. Again,
these mergers were in response to afurther increase in the responsibilities of
local governments. Now, we are entering
a third consolidation, which is
tentatively known as The Great Merger
of Heisei.
The reasons for the current wave
of merger activity are more complicatedthan in the previous two. Nevertheless,the overriding impetus today for
merging municipalities is the promotionof ‘decentralisation’. In recent years, thenational government has wished toplace more and more authority forgovernment administration at the local
level. So, local governments need amuch greater level of certainty tooperate, in terms of legal authority, interms of financial means and in terms of
PAGE 2

human resources if they are going to beeffective in delivering the services theirresidents need. In addition to thatclarity, all governments are facing adeclining birth-rate and aging
population trend in Japan. This trend
will require local governments to havethe ability to maximise the efficiency
with which they will provide services tothe elderly in the future. It is important,also, to have municipalities respond to

suburban sprawl by
havingjurisdiction
over larger areas.
Finally, with the severe
financial constraints
facing the national,
prefecture and local
governments, there is aneed to streamline
government operations
to be as cost-effective
as possible.
In
April
2005,
therefore,
Japan’snational government
passed a law toencourage municipalities to merge (see,Figure 2 for a description of the numberof municipal mergers since 1999). Thiswas known as The Law for Exceptional
Measures in Municipal Mergers. It was
designed to sunset after a period of five
years. That, together with the available
financial subsidies, of course, was togive municipalities an incentive tomerge.
Under the law, the Ministry of

The Progress of Municipal Mergers in Japan (Fig. 2)

JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

Internal Affairs and Communications
was asked to develop a policy forencouraging the merger of municipal
governments.
The
relevant
municipalities apply for a merger to theprefecture after they have engaged inconsultations with each other about thedesire to combine their municipalities.
Then, the merger is decided by a vote of
the prefecture assembly.
The procedure that has been set
out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs

and Communications involves themunicipalities, the relevant prefecture,
the citizens affected and the staff of the
Ministry. There is ample time fordiscussion both for and against the ideaof merging (see, Figure 3).

Measures for Promotion of the Municipal Mergers (Fig. 3)

JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

PAGE 3

The Tokyo You Have Never Seen
Erena Niwa / Deputy Director
P R E F E C T U R E

T O D A YAs everyone knows, Tokyo is
the center of Japanese
government, commerce, andculture, as well as being the place to
go to for the latest and most advanced
technological gadgets. Tokyo is asophisticated and cosmopolitan urban
city that is evolving continuously. You
can enjoy traditional Japanese sumo
wrestling and kabuki theater, as wellas the pop arts of anime and cuttingedge fashion. But there is another“wild” Tokyo: You can experience thehealing effects of nature in themountains of the Tama Region, thebeautiful scenery of the Izu Islands,
and the breathtaking Ogasawara
Island. Discover all of Tokyo’s
attractions and experience its
wonderful hospitality.
E“Asakusa” —— Conveying Old
Edo Flavor to the Present Day
Asakusa has developed as a Monzencho, or temple town, for about 400
years. Senso-ji Temple originated in
628 A.D. and is the oldest and mostimpressive temple in Tokyo. Nearby,
Kappabashi Street has been famous
for more than 90 years for its
wholesalestoresselling
wax
imitation food, restaurant equipment
and kitchenware. A major lure of
Asakusa for tourists is the rows ofhouses along streets full of old-time
downtown atmosphere. The annual
Sanja Matsuri in May is one ofTokyo’s most gorgeous and vibrantevents. You can see more than 100
Mikoshi, beautiful portable shrines,
floating on the streets of Asakusa.

E“Harajuku & Omotesando”—— Tokyo’s Fashion District
Harajuku and Omotesando are therefined shopping areas just off andbehind Shibuya. You should explore
Omotesando Hills, the latest hipcomplex which opened in February.
Omotesando Hills is home to morethan 90 chic stores and trendy
restaurants, and is always crowdedwith fashionable people. The 80-year
old Dojunkai Aoyama Apartments
stood at this site, and was the oldest
apartment building in Japan and asymbol of the Omotesando area. A
part of this apartment building has
been
restored,preservingaconnection to the history of the area.
7For more information please visit
http://www.omotesandohills.com/eng/index.html
ETokyo Marathon 2007
On
February
18,
Tokyo
will
host
“TokyoMarathon
2007”. Similar to the
New York City and
Londonmarathons,
the Tokyo Marathon
will attract enthusiastic amateur
local runners and world-classprofessional athletes from aroundthe world. Runners will start fromthe Tokyo Metropolitan Governmentbuilding in Shinjuku and passfamous tourist attractions such as
the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo
Tower, Ginza and Asakusa, before
finishing at Rinkai Waterfront City.
Applications for the Tokyo Big
Marathon 2007 should be submitted
by August 18, 2006. Please check thefollowing Web site:
http://www.tokyo42195.org/index_e.html

and the Tokyo Convention &Visitors Bureau organized “Tokyo
Festa” in February, 2006, in the
Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central
Terminal in New York City. It was a
festive exhibition bridging theTokyos of yesterday and today. The
many New Yorkers visiting “Tokyo
Festa” enjoyed viewing old Tokyo’s
huge Japanese style bridge, acalligraphy performance, thunderous
Taiko drums, and the traditional fun
and games from days of old, when
Tokyo was known as Edo. They also
enjoyed new Tokyo by watching
anime hits presented on a big screen.
Tokyo will hold another public event
again on October 27and 28 of 2006
in New York City.

7For more information:
http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/index.htm
Tokyo Metropolitan Government
http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/en
glish/index.html
The Tourism Division, Bureau ofIndustrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo
Metropolitan Government
http://www.tcvb.or.jp/en/index_en.htm
Tokyo Convention &Visitors Bureau

E“Tokyo Festa” —— Tokyo
City Promotion in New YorkTokyo Metropolitan Government
PAGE 4JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

My JET Experience, Now and Then
Jennifer Olayon, President of JET Alumni Association of New York, 2005- 2007
J E T A A

A C T I V I T I E S

My time on the JET Program(1999-2000) remains a
precious turning point in
my life, and my own personal ties to
the Program remain strong. The
people of Seihi-cho, welcomed me totheir town and gave me the privilege
to assist with their English language
instruction in their junior high school
but moreover, to partake in their daily
life, and sample a flavor of theirprefecture’s uniqueness through theintroduction of such food delicacies as
castella, and champon influenced bythePortuguese
andChineserespectively, and a course that stands
out as a true welding of cultures,shippoku (meaning “dinner table” inChinese), a mixed dish made ofJapanese, Chinese and Western origin.

Farwell party hosted by Seihi-cho high school teachers,
June 2000

Seihi-cho is not foreign tointernational and cultural experience;
it has long enjoyed ties to Dutch
culture. My family and friends wereamused to learn that when I would
walk to one corridor of the juniorhigh school I worked at and look outof the window, I would see, as one
would expect in suburban Japan, a
traditional home adorned withintricate roof tile but at the opposite
end of the school, I saw a grand windmill tunnel and bright yellow tulips,
as if I had been transported toHolland’s countryside. Throughtailored person-to-person marketingmessages, JET alumni have theopportunity to endorse Japan and
JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

their respective Japanese hometown
on JET and post-JET, as a tourist
destinations. We can tell our friends
and family the wonders of Japan,
through the unique lens of living inJapan as JET participants.
This is a banner year for JET
both on an international and
immediate local level. The Program
celebrates its 20th year anniversary and
the JET Alumni Association of New
York (JETAANY), was conferred thetitle “Special Representative for the
Visit Japan Campaign” by theGovernment of Japan, the firstorganization to be awarded this. Under
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, theJapanese government has set to double
the number of foreign tourists visiting
Japan each year, to ten million by
2010. The JET program welcomed us
to Japan and now JETAANY is happy
to help welcome Japan to our friends,
family, co-workers, and the many otherpeople that we communicate withthrough the JET alumni association. If
every JET alumni can convince one
person to visit Japan, that would
translate to 44,000 new visitors!
JETAANY’s
designation
ceremony was held at the official
residence of Mr. Motoatsu Sakurai,
Ambassador of the Consulate Generalof Japan in New York on May 2,
2006. In true JET fashion, the event
brought together people from both
Japan and the United States. Guests
included alumni from the tri-statearea, government officials, media andtourismindustry
professionals.
Notably, there were two distinguishedguests from Japan. Mr. Ryuhei
Maeda, whom on behalf of, Mr.
Kosuke Shibata, Deputy Vice
Minister of Tourism Policy, awarded
JETAANY a plaque in recognition ofthis special honor and one of JET’s

most famous alumni, Mr. Anthony
Bianchi, the first North American
elected city council member in Japan,
who was in New York to a part of his
hometown’s annual Brooklyn Botanic
Garden’s Sakura Matsuri.

Designation Ceremony, May 2006

I think the Program was reallyonto something when they said“exchange.” Our work on the ground,in the classroom, in our villages,
towns, or cities touches many lives.
Upon our return to the United States,
we have the opportunity to be a kindof cultural “buzz” agent and promote
Japan, the JET Program, and thedistinctive charm of what we called
home for at least one year. In keeping
with
JETAANY’s
missioninpromoting Japanese culture andunderstanding, this new partnershipwith the government through theJapan National Tourist Organization
enhances
JETAANY’sroleasgrassroots cultural ambassadors. Thisin turn will help the organization
further build upon its resources indeveloping a deeper understanding ofJapan.
In constant search of thisdeeper understanding, we at JET
continue to stay involved with Japanthroughourvolunteer
andprofessional activities. Our new
collaboration with the Visit Japan
Campaign is an exciting endeavor andwe will strive to be an outstanding
model for the other JETAA
international chapters to follow.
PAGE 5

Building Prosperity Together: The 69th Annual
Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference
Matthew Gillam / JLGC Senior Researcher
J L G CU P D A T E S

The beautiful and historic city ofMontreal played host to the69th Annual FCM Conference
and Municipal Expo, running from June
2nd to the 5th. This year’s conference
was significant because it was the firsttime that the new Prime Minister,
Steven Harper, was able to address theassembled municipal leaders and appeal
for support for his policies, and it
signaled the beginning of a new chapter
for FCM in its dealings with the federal
government.

The former Liberal governments,
especially the last led by Paul Martin,came to agreement with FCM that thefederal government should recognize
and - as far as constitutionally possible
and with the agreement of the provinces- directly support municipal andregional government. Mr. Harper has
held to his Conservative Party’s position
that the Canadian Constitution gives
control of local government to theprovinces, with no direct federal role intheir affairs. He has shown indications,however, since his election, that he has
somewhat modified his strict views andis willing to expend political capital togain the support of the major cities andtheir large populations that havetraditionally not supported his party.
The main topic of this year’s
gathering was the much-discussed“fiscal imbalance” that has been
dominating the Canadian news formonths now. This term originallyapplied to the disparity between revenue
available to the provinces and theirconstitutional obligations (i.e. postsecondary education, health care, etc.),
but that has recently been expanded to
PAGE 6

include the needs of local governments
in meeting obligations (primary &secondary education, social welfare,etc.) to their residents. With multibillion dollar federal surpluses over thelast few years, Ottawa has been depicted
as recovering spectacularly from thefiscal problems of the 1990s at theexpense of lower orders of government,
who suffered from downloading andconstrained revenue sources. With
Ontario in the lead, provincial premiers
have been asking for more money fromthe federal government to help themmeet their obligations. But tocomplicate matters, because some of thismoney would probably come fromchanges to the equalization program
there is also widespread disagreement
among the provinces about how toachieve any increase.
Municipal governments, bothbigcitiesandsmallerruralcommunities, have taken up the fiscal
imbalance argument and are demanding
more flexible and lucrative revenue
sources, like a permanent share of thefederal gasoline tax, in order to pay forthe physical and social infrastructure forwhich they are responsible. They also
see their best hope of increased funding
as coming from the federal government,with its ongoing surpluses, rather thanthe provincial governments that would
have to raise taxes to cover the extra
spending.
The Prime Minister promised tomaintain some Liberal initiatives, likethe temporary gas tax transfer tomunicipal
governments,andhepromised to consult with the cities on
issues of national importance, like
immigration and public safety. It is notclear in the long run, though, how hewill reconcile the Conservative goal of
greater autonomy for the provinces
within a more decentralized federal
system with the demands of municipal
leaders and citizens that the federal
government consult with and support
local governments more directly.
All evidence indicates thatmunicipal governments are not willingto go back to pleading with theirprovincial overseers for more funding
and support, feeling that relationshiphas seldom yielded the desired results,
since, ironically, provincial governments
seem to have an easier time ignoring or
rejecting the demands of theirsubordinate municipalities. Now thatappeals to Ottawa have started to pay
off (literally), local leaders at theconference were focused on capitalizingon their strength in numbers as FCM
members in order to extract further aid
from the federal government.
Other popular topics this year
included pollution and environmental
policy, and how to implement “green”
solutions at all levels of government,along with the related topic of funding
for more public transit. The ongoing
divide between the large cities andsmaller communities was a recurring
theme in comments from participants,
with smaller communities feeling that
their interests are overlooked or
sacrificed in the effort by their more
influential big city colleagues to wrest
concessions
fromthefederalgovernment out of the limited resources
available.

Montreal was a beautiful andgracious host for this year’s conference,with generous helpings of the great
food, enchanting music and dazzling
circus performances for which the city isfamous. Next year’s 70th annual
conference will be held in Calgary, andthe pressure is on to match, if notsurpass, the level of meaningful
discussion, productive working sessions,and pleasant after-hours festivities ofthis year’s conference.
JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government CenterMayors Meet in Las Vegas
for a Spectacular Conference
Seth B. Benjamin / JLGC Senior Researcher
J L G CU P D A T E S

The United States Conference ofMayors (USCM) held its 74th
annual conference in the fabledcity of Las Vegas, Nevada, from 2ndJune to 6th June. With over 300 mayors
in attendance, and with Mayor Oscar
Goodman as host, the conference
offered the mayors full days of hard
work and some well-earned night-time
relaxation enjoying the sights andsounds of Las Vegas.

Beverly O'Neill, Mayor of Long Beach, CA, Outgoing
President of USCM, Addressing the Conference Participants

As usual, the conference
followed a format that mixed standing
committees, task forces and workshops,
together with general sessions. The
range of subjects covered was wide.
Community policing, homelessness,
city beautification, health, poverty andwork opportunities, energy and theenvironment and exploited children
were just some of the topics that the
mayors addressed in various formats.
The international quality of the meeting
was highlighted by a well-attended
meetingoftheInternational
Committee. At that meeting, Mr.
Naofumi Hida, JLGC’s director, gave ashort speech complimenting the work of
USCM and the very warm relationship
JLGC has with American and Canadianmayors. He introduced the new
executive director, Mr. Shinji Hirai, andtwo of our senior officials from CLAIR(Tokyo): Shinichi Ohno, Senior
Managing Director, and Yoshitaka
Hada, Manager of the International
Information Division. The U.S. State
Department was represented by the
director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center

Mr. Hirai, New Executive Director,
and Mr. Hida, Director, of JLGC, with Michael Guido,
Mayor of Dearborn, MI, Incoming President of USCM

At the plenary and luncheon
sessions, we were treated to some finespeeches by a variety of national andinternational figures. The Mayor of
Beijing, China, who is also the presidentof the China Association of Mayors,
spoke about the slow but developing
quality of life in China’s capital city. He
was proud of the fact that in Beijing the
per capita income was equivalent to thatof Americans in 1974! He tempered his
enthusiasm, however, with therecognition that between Beijing andthe rest of the country there was anenormous gap in wealth creation. Then,at the annual luncheon celebrating thecity livability awards, U.S. Senator John
McCain addressed the mayors on a few
key subjects. (Incidentally, the city
livability awards are an opportunity to
reward the leadership of those mayors
who have made an attempt to maketheir cities that much more livable.) The
main thrust of Senator McCain’s talk
was about two subjects that havecaptured the public’s imagination;
immigration and the war in Iraq.

Mr. Hirai and Mr. Hida with US Secretary of Transportation,
Norman Mineta

Two more notable speakers were
the Governor of New Mexico, Bill
Richardson, and the U.S. Secretary ofTransportation, Norman Mineta.
Governor Richardson spoke to themayors about energy policies and how
the United States has to lessen its
reliance on foreign oil (the Governor
had been U.S. Secretary of Energy in the
Clinton Administration). He spoke also
about immigration. This for him was avery real issue since his state was aborder state with Mexico. He talked
about poverty and finally about thethreat to the world of Iran as a nuclear
power (the Governor was also the U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations in
the Clinton Administration).

A Plenary Session at the Conference

Of course, the mayors had achance to relax and enjoy the enormous
variety of entertainment Las Vegas has
to offer. This included a unique
opportunity to see the famous FrenchCanadian troupe Cirque du Soleil in abrand new production celebrating thelife and art of the Beatles. They wereable to taste a sampling of the various
acts that were being presented currently
in Las Vegas and enjoyed an evening at
the heart of the ‘old’ Las Vegas, Fremont
Street, with its tremendous light show.
In all, the conference allowed JLGC tostrengthen its strong ties to the UnitedStates Conference of Mayors, makemany new friends among the mayors
and renew old friendships.
PAGE 7

Accomplishments of our Local Government
Officials Training Program
Tamaki Yoshida / Former Assistant Director, JLGC
C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Mina-san konnichiwa! My
name is Tamaki Yoshida;I’m a former member of the
New York Japan Local Government
Center (JLGC) where I worked until
this past year. I am now back in Japanand back in my office at the City of
Yokosuka International Relations
Division.
At the JLGC, I was in charge of
the Local Government Officials
Training Program (LGOTP) and often
tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit
trainees from several cities in the U.S.
I recall the words of my coworker
Stephen V. Fasano, who explained the
difficulty for American city officials toleave their taxpayers for six months totrain overseas. Having returned to myhometown and my work with the Cityof Yokosuka, I am now again in chargeof the LGOTP through which wecurrently host a trainee from thePeople’s Republic of China. Having
been unable to recruit U.S. trainees in
the past, I never imagined that I
would be involved in the programfrom my post in Japan. I can’t help
but wonder if the LGOTP and I areconnected by some kind of invisible
power.

Making a courtesy call on director of Seoul Grand Park Zoo

Yokosuka has hosted trainees
through the program since 1996. To
date, we have welcomed nine
participants from Vietnam, Thailand,
Korea and China. These trainees visit
our city to learn Japan’s local
government systems, but the lessons
learnedthroughtheirdaily
PAGE 8F R O MF O R M E R

J L G CM E M B E R

interactions with their Japanesecoworkers cannot be understated.
The LGOTP offers not only ourtrainees but also our municipal staff
aninvaluablelessonininternationalization.
Having hosted trainees from
Korea six times, my colleagues and I
decided to deepen our relationshipwith the country itself by traveling toSeoul for three days and two nights in
April. In Seoul, we reunited withformer trainees and learned about ourneighboring country.

pojangmacha

We headed out to Haneda
International Airport after work;
compared to Narita, the maininternational airport serving theTokyo area, Haneda is located very
close to Yokosuka. We landed at theSeoul Gimpo International Airport
and reached our hotel by 11:00 p.m.
where
two
formertrainees,
accompanied by another Korean
friend were awaiting our arrival. They
brought us to Dongdaemun, an
absolutely exciting area in Seoul’s
downtown which never goes to sleep!
Even in the middle of the night, there
are so many young people shopping,eating and drinking that you easily
forget that it is not daytime.

Dongdaemun is especially famous for
its pojangmacha, sit-down street foodvendors serving traditional Korean
food and drinks.
My travelcompanions, myself in particular,
stuffed ourselves full that night.
The next morning, and on very
little sleep, we visited to the Seoul
Grand Park Zoo where Jung Sang Yun,
Yokosuka’s trainee from last year, isemployed. In spite of having slept
very little, Yun-san was very alert
when he picked us up at the subway
station. He guided us around the parkand showed us the flamingo, dolphin,and sea lion shows which now
incorporate ideas and skills learned
during his training in Japan’s zoos andaquariums last year.
If you visit Korea, please stopby the Seoul Grand Park Zoo andenjoy the animal shows. Not only is
the park itself worth the trip, theshows are also an excellent example of
the LGOTP’s success in uniting
Japanese and Korean culture.

Dolphin show

PS. A bit of news from Washington
D.C., Strader Payton, Yokosuka’s
former Graduate Student Intern has
just landed a position working with
the New York office of Tokyo T.V.
Congratulations Payton-san!

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JLGC NewsLetter No. 58 • © 2006 Japan Local Government Center