ISSUE #85

JUNE 2016

JLGC NEWSLETTER
Japan Local Government Center ( CLAIR, New York )Issue no. 85 June 2016

1. Introduction of New JLGC Staff
Arika Aizawa, Assistant Director,Representative of Kitaibaraki City

VISIT TO NOVI CITY (PAGE5)ISSUE NO. 85
JUNE 2016

1. Introduction of New
JLGC Staff (Page1-4)

Kitaibaraki

Hello, my name is Arika Aizawa from
Kitaibaraki City. I’d like to introduce myhometown to you.
What is Kitaibaraki City like? First, whereis it? Kitaibaraki is 2 hours by train fromTokyo. And it is close to the Pacific Oceanand also to the mountains. In fact, it’s only within 10 minutes drive from both theocean and the mountains. Many great
Japanese artists moved to Kitaibaraki, because they loved thebeautiful nature that one finds there.

2. Our Visit to Novi City(Page5)
3. Japan Day @ Central Park(Page6)
4. Pictures (Page7)

The Variety of Kitaibaraki

JAPAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER

3 Park Avenue, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10016-5902
212.246.5542 office • 212.246.5617 fax
www.jlgc.org

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2015

Hirakata PortISSUE #85

Rokkakudou

Where Tenshin was immersed in meditation

Hanazono Valley-Autumn

Hanazono Valley-SpringThis is the painting by Hishida Syunsou, a famous artist in Japan. Okakura Tenshin was his teacher. Okakura Tenshin was a Japanese writer and art curator who contributed to the development of arts in Japan
during the Meiji period (from around 1860 to 1910). Okakura
Tenshin moved to the Japan Art Academy in Kitaibaraki, where
he invited many talented artists such as Hishida Syunsou to joinhim. They lived there and produced lots of works of art together.
Okakura Tenshin was also a curator of the Department of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, andwas a good friend of the American art historian, Ernest
Fall leaves-Painting in the Japanese styleFenollosa. Outside Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as
One of the great Japanese artists, Hishida
the author of The Book of Tea.
Shunsou, moved to Kitaibaraki
Today, the environment around Kitaibaraki remains just like inthe paintings of the past. But the environment is nor all that Kitaibaraki has to offer.
Kitaibaraki City has a lot of delicious foods and even won the firstprize in a Nabe contest in the Tokyo Tsukiji fish market!! The Tsukiji
market is the biggest fish market in the world. This is a picture ofthe dish that won the prize and it’s called Ankou Nabe. “Monk fishsoup”. It’s a strong miso and Monk fish liver flavor. There are two
fish markets in Kitaibaraki. The Monk fish in the front of this picture weighs thirty-two kilograms.
You can enjoy nature, food, art and the local culture inKitaibaraki.
If you have any questions please let me know: jlgc@jlgc.org
Come to Japan and experience my home town!!
http://www.kitaibarakishi-kankokyokai.gr.jp/
http://www.tenshin.museum.ibk.ed.jp/

Hirakata Fish MarketAnkou Nabe2JUNE 2016

ISSUE #85

Kaori Ito, Assistant Director, Representative of Shiga Prefecture
Hello, my name is Kaori Ito. I’m from ’SHIGA’ Prefecture. I’d like to introduce you to Shiga prefecture where I come from.
Shiga is located roughly in the center of Japan’s biggest island – we call it
Honsyū. In Shiga, you can find Biwako, Japan’s largest and most wellknown lake.
Shiga enjoys a relatively comfortable climate, with each of the four seasons being very distinct. Coupled with its splendid natural surroundings,
you can enjoy scenic views all year round.
Additionally, Shiga plays a major role as a transportation route and has
done so since ancient times. As a result, Shiga represents Japanese historyand culture.

BiwakoThe largest lake in the country, Biwako covers 670
Nature square kilometers and holds 27.5 billion tons ofwater. It supports the lives and businesses of 14 million people in
the region, including Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe in addition to Shiga
Prefecture. Biwako is said to be the ‘Mother Lake’ because it is
one of the few lakes in the world known to have a history datingback four million years. Biwako is rich in biodiversity, supporting in
its waters and the surrounding mountains about 600 different species of animals, and 500 species of plants.

The culture that has grown up around Japan’s largest lake, Biwako, has
History and Culture been designated ‘Japan Heritage’ chosen by the Cultural Affairs Agency ofJapan. There are a lot of historical places in Shiga. Shiga's capital Otsu was once the Imperial Capitalwhen Emperor Tenji moved there from Kyoto in 667. During the late 16th century when warlords jostled for power and conquest, Ohmi (now called Shiga Prefecture) was a strategic province since it was
the gateway to Kyoto which was then the Imperial Capital and home of the emperor. Powerful daimyo feudal lords such as Oda Nobunaga, seeking to unify the country and place Kyoto under militarycontrol, knew that Ohmi Province had to be conquered first. You can still see many complete castles.
Even today, one can see fine examples of daimyo castles in Shiga. And there are many other ruins tosee. Indeed, castle towns are a frequent sight.

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Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple
Enryaku-ji Temple is a
UNESCO World Cultural HeritHikone Castle
age Site. Hieizan is respected
National Treasure and as one of the leading centersof Japanese Buddism.
counted among one of
the greatest castles inthe world.

Hachiman BoriNight falls and 2,000 lanterns
are lit along Hachiman’s canal.
Waterways were essential tothe region and its transportation until the start of the Showa
period (1926 - 1989).

Chikubu Island
Called the Island of theGods – also known as theEight Views of Ohmi.
Popular as a sacredplace, combining nature,a Shinto shrine, and a
Buddhist temple.

Experience

Biwako Great Fireworks Festival
You can enjoy the splendors of
10,000 fireworks, lights andfountains against the incredible
backdrop of Biwako.

Activities
You can enjoy many kinds ofwatersports with canoes,
kayaks, surfskis, yachts,wakeboards and so onaround the lake.

Hachiman canal boat tour
The Ohmi-Hachiman boat tour
allows you to enjoy a different,
natural world. In particular, you
can enjoy an Ohmi beef sukiyaki
meal while on the boat.

Koka Ninja Village
Koka Ninja is one of the famous Ninjas.
You can have fun time in Ninja village experiencing various Ninja related
activities. Visit and become a ninja for the day!

Biwako, the Ibuki and Hira mountains and the ferFood tile farmland in between make Shiga Prefecture's
landscape a feast for the eyes. They produce afeast for the dining table as well with Ohmi rice, Ohmi beef,ayu (sweet fish), beans, vegetables, green tea, and more.
Funa-sushi and ebi-mame are just a couple of examples ofOhmi Beef ‘Sukiyaki’
the fantastic local dishes this amazing environment
Ohmi beef has a 400 years
spawns.
history and is considered one

Biwako Cuisineof the top three brands.

More Information!
＜SHIGA Tourism Official Website＞
http://en.biwako-visitors.jp/

Decchi Yokan(Sweet bean jelly)
It’s one of local
specialty sweets.

＜Go Biwako＞
http://en.biwako-visitors.jp/gobiwako/
Travel Brochures
http://en.biwako-visitors.jp/gobiwako/downloads/

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ISSUE #85

2. Our Visit to Novi City
Arisa Kurihara, Representative of Miyagi PrefectureJapan Local Government Center (JLGC) newstaff visited Novi City in Michigan from May 16th to19th. Novi city and JLGC have had close ties eversince the former city manager, Clay Pearson, was aparticipant on the “CLAIR Fellowship Exchange Program”, which has been affording senior state andlocal government officials in the U.S. an opportuni-

After arrival in Novi City, Peter E. Auger, the city manager, gave us an easy-to understand explanation
about some of the differences between U.S. and Japanese municipalities. He went to Japan last year as amember of our “CLAIR Fellowship Exchange Program”.
For me, it is the visit to Novi High School that was themost impressive. Novi High School’s facilities aremuch larger than Japanese public schools.
Class time is 7:50am
to 2:00pm and it isshorter than Japan,
but the breadth of
the selection of thety to experience first-hand Japanese government
administration. So, this study tour has been hosted
by Novi City since 2008.
Novi staff members guided us through every inchof the city: The civic center, police headquarters,
Novi public library, fire station, Novi High Schooland some administrative offices. We were truly
impressed with the city’s hospitality and learned alot of things. We greatly appreciate the city’s kindness.

classes and also the after-school clubs are considerable. The journalism class had attracted my interest.
The number of students in the class is as much as 30
students and they publish wonderful newspapers on aquarterly basis and a Year Book themselves for which
the students did all the interviews and took all photography.
We greatly appreciate all the work done by themayor, Bob Gatt and Novi staff members. We will never forget the memories of everything during our stay
and we look forward to our continuing friendship.

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5. Japan Day @ Central Park
Tatsuya Matsumoto, Representative of Saitama CityOn May 8th, Japan Day @ Central Park, an event to introduce Japanese culture, was held in Central
Park. This year, which marks the tenth anniversary of Japan Day, there were more than 20 tents. Lines
formed in front of the Activity Tents, open from 9:30AM to 4:30PM, where participants were able toexperience Japanese culture in the form of Kabuki face painting, calligraphy, origami and trying on a yukata, as well as the Food Tents, open from 11:30AM to2:30PM, which provided participants with a taste of Japanese ramen, gyoza, yakisoba and so on. The popularity of Japanese food in New York was revealed by thefact that the Food Tents all ran out of food in the afternoon.
Every year at Japan Day @ Central Park, donations are collected to plant cherry
blossom trees in Central Park, but at this year’s event, donations were collected Original charity t-shirt
for the Kumamoto earthquakes, which happened in April. Participants who donated $20 or more received an original charity t-shirt. A lot ofpeople wearing these t-shirts were walking around the park.
Five new staff members from the Japan Local Government
Center (JLGC) volunteered at the YO-YO Fishing tent, which
was collectively put on by JETAANY and the Japan Society.
Unfortunately, the morning of the event was rainy, but many
people who stopped by the tent watched with curiosity thestaff members making YO-YOs inside the tent.
As the event kicked off at 9:30am, many families lined up infront of the tent to enjoy YO-YO fishing. We were asked how
to make the YO-YOs and fish for them many times, but it wasvery difficult to explain in English. Fortunately, JETAANY
members helped us at that time, so the tent was a big success.
That day was the first time I have had the opportunity tospeak with many members of JETAA since I came to JLGC. I
was surprised and impressed by their continued ties to Japan.

YO-YO Fishing tent

Main Stage(Artist Akiko Yano)

In only one day, approximately 4,000 people came and tried YO-YO fishing at our tent. Upon seeing
children gleefully playing in Central Park with the YO-YOs, I am glad to volunteer at this event andgrateful to JETAANY and the Japan Society.

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JLGC Staff Training by local staff

Governor of Tokyo visited New
York and Washington D.C.

Tokyo and JETAA had booth in Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.

New Staff visited Novi City, Michigan

Hiroshima Prefecture Assembly
visited JLGCJAPAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER (CLAIR, NY)

Published by Japan Local Government Center
3 Park Avenue, 20th floor, New York, NY 10016 / Tel: 212-246-5542 / Fax:212-246-5617 / E:mail: jlgc@jlgc.org / http://www.jlgc.org

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