Three times every year, people in Edmonds or in Hekinan, Japan, pack up a delegation in one city and fly it across the Pacific Ocean to the other.
Over 1,000 people have made the trek in the 20 years since Edmonds and Hekinan became Sister Cities, officials said.
Usually, it leads to fun. Sometimes it leads to friendship. Once, it led to marriage.
But generally, the travelers work to bridge their divides — an ocean, a language, a culture — to seek kinship and understanding.
Now, after 20 years of cultural exchanges, officials from both cities are preparing to celebrate.
Hekinan’s mayor, its City Council chairman, and many of its citizens will arrive in Edmonds Oct. 27 as part of a weeklong visit commemorating the long relationship.
Hekinan is a port city with over 70,000 residents near Nagoya, Japan.
Edmonds’ City Council will honor the delegation, and the 20th anniversary, at its Oct. 28 meeting.
“For some cities, a (sister city relationship) is just a plaque on the wall, or maybe it’s a letter that is sent back and forth,” said Jim Corbett, who sits on Edmonds’ Sister City commission. “But I do not think there are many cities that send a delegation every year, and receive two.”
Every July, Edmonds sends a delegation of teenagers to Hekinan for a student exchange, eating and sleeping in Japanese homes. In early August, students in Hekinan visit Edmonds.
Every October, too, Hekinan sends an adult delegation. Edmonds sends an adult delegation every few years — the last two were in April 2005 and April 2008.
Sometimes, love flourishes.
An American high school student went to Hekinan on an exchange a few years ago and met a Japanese girl. She visited Edmonds, also on an exchange, and then decided to attend Edmonds Community College.
Pretty soon, the two were married. The couple had two weddings — one here, and one there.
“The exchange can be a life altering event,” said Corbett, who wrote about the couple in a Sister City newsletter earlier this year.
For sure, the relationship between Edmonds and Hekinan is a remarkable achievement, said Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson, who has visited Hekinan twice.
“It is a big deal,” Haakenson said. “It transcends politics and countries. It is just people.”
And it is also gift giving.
Gifts from Hekinan visitors are sprinkled throughout the city — at Centennial Plaza, at City Hall, at Stevens Hospital, and at countless homes throughout the city.
Haakenson believes gift giving, of a different sort, might be the biggest treat for Hekinan’s adults; he means Halloween.
Every year, Hekinan’s adults stand outside Edmonds City Hall and give candy to costumed children passing by.
“They absolutely love it,” Haakenson said.
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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