Sister Cities of Greenfield

New logo unveiled

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:00:30 +0000

Sister Cities of Greenfield worked with Nashville, Tennessee artist Lucie Rice to create a new logo for the organization. This logo is based on images from the Sister City Park along Pennsy Trail. Lucie received her BFA in fine arts from the University of Evansville and her MFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design. Her work can be seen in magazines across the country, as well as in books and ad campaigns.

More of her work can be found at lucierice.com.

Earthquake anniversary marked with tree planting

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:43:55 +0000

The board of directors and friends of the Sister Cities of Greenfield gathered on Sunday, March 11, to mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The board’s president, Robert Young, read a statement commemorating the moment, then everyone present participated in a symbolic planting of a weeping cherry tree along Pennsy Trail, near the organization’s Japanese garden.

The garden is located just west of SR 9 in Greenfield and just south of the Greenfield Police Department.

Read the tree planting press release here

Dontosai Festival

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:47:02 +0000

Every year, Kakuda has a dontosai festival, which takes place on January 14 in the frigid cold. Dontosai is one of many rightly called hatada matsuris (naked festival). It’s the final piece of the New Year’s celebrations. The shrines are lined with people drinking sake with rice in it and eating konyaku. There is a parade of young people wearing loincloths marching from one shrine to the next only stopping occasionally to huddle around the giant bonfires that line the shrines. They throw mochi (rice dumpling) and bells for the children to catch.

Kakuda also hosts a children’s festival where children have a chance to come play dozens of different games and receive prizes for their efforts. Most of the prizes this year were food, ranging from small tube-shaped “cheeze puffs” that came in various flavors to Japanese potato chips and even popcorn! Most of the children are elementary school aged.

I played several different American games with the kids and even a few adults I managed to corral. Candyland and Uno were two immediate hits, though I did manage to stray away from my booth and play a few games myself. My reward was eating popcorn for the first time in eight months.

Indulging in my love of history by making a Jomon-style necklace rounded out an incredibly fun day.

Donate to Sister Cities of Greenfield

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:26:12 +0000

Your donations help Sister Cities of Greenfield cover expenses for our students and their chaperones to visit Japan every summer. Click on the link to the form below to donate to our organization.

Sister Cities of Greenfield donation form

Accepting hosting applications

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:56:05 +0000

We are now accepting applications for families interested in hosting a student or chaperone from Kakuda. Visit our applications page to learn more and download an application and sample schedule.

The proposed dates for the 2012 visit are August 17-26.

Earthquake anniversary speech

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:29:29 +0000

Sister Cities of Greenfield President Robert Young gives a speech before the organization planted a tree commemorating the anniversary of last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Winter arrives in Kakuda

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:20:52 +0000

It finally feels truly like winter here in Kakuda.

I woke up this morning to find that I had no running water, because my pipes had frozen. 18 degrees is the coldest it has gotten this year, but Kakuda is as breathtaking in the winter as it is in the spring and summer. The mountains are gorgeous and almost always capped with white peaks. On the sides of the mountains, you can see white trails running down – ski slopes.

This past weekend I went to the Kouzouji temple while it was snowing. I was excited to think that in six months, the flakes will be replaced by thousands of fireflies, but for now I am enjoying the scenery of Kakuda while everything is covered with snow.

New painting unveiled

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:39:46 +0000

Teacher Sandy Hall recently unveiled a painting she worked on with the Art Club at Greenfield-Central Jr. High School and with the 2010 Kakuda Wing during their visit to Greenfield. The painting will be on display at Greenfield-Central Jr. High School.

Hello from Kakuda!

Chris Harris — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:51:13 +0000

I would like to welcome all of you to the blog I will keep during my time as the Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kakuda, Japan. This first post will serve as a concise introduction for the blog itself and over the next several months I will be creating posts on my background, my involvement in the Sister Cities program, and life here in Kakuda.

A major upcoming project for me and Kakuda’s Planning section of City Hall is a series of lectures that will cover what the daily life, culture, and values are for the citizens of Greenfield. It is with that same ideal in mind that this blog will elucidate in English the same things about the citizens of Kakuda.

I hope many of you will find my writings to be highly informative, mildly entertaining, and at times a bit surprising. It is my intent to retain a semblance of objectivity as I recount the major events of my life in Japan.

Sister Cities on Channel 13

Sister Cities of Greenfield — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 03:40:16 +0000

Channel 13 news reporter Richard Essex did a story on the Sister Cities of Greenfield the day after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.