Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Community

City to send delegation to Ishikari, Japan to mark twinning 40th anniversary

Over the years, exchanges have built and nourished ‘bonds of friendship’
Alistair Taylor
Alistair Taylor
web1_230707-crm-torii-blessing-torii_3
A Shinto Shrine ritual was held at Campbell River’s Torii Gate on Thursday, July 6, 2023, during a visit to the city by representatives of Ishikari, Japan, Campbell River’s sister city, who were here to mark the 40th anniversary of the twinning relationship. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror

The City of Campbell River will be sending a delegation to its sister city of Ishikari, Japan in the fall to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the two cities’ twinning relationship.

City council decided at the Tuesday, April 23 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting to send a delegation consisting of the mayor and up to three councillors and up to three city staff. The city will also invite the We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum First Nations and School District 72 to participate in the trip as well. Costs associated with the delegation will be funded through the Ishikari Twinning reserve funds.

The City of Campbell River has been twinned with Ishikari in Hokkaido, Japan since 1983. The relationship was originally inspired because both communities are known for their salmon, a report to city council for the COW meeting says. Over the years, a number of cultural and student exchanges have built and nourished “bonds of friendship.”

The cities have worked in partnership with their respective twinning organizations, marking progress every 10 years – except for 2003 when the SARS scare postponed the exchanges until the 25th anniversary in 2008.

At the 30th anniversary event, the Campbell River/Ishikari connection was celebrated as one of the most successful sister city relationships in Canada, the COW report says.

Last year, a delegation from Ishikari visited Campbell River to mark the 40th anniversary of the twinning relationship. The delegation met with Campbell River mayor Kermit Dahl and signed an agreement to continue the sister city relationship which has seen cultural and business exchanges as well as youths from both communities participating in exchanges over the past 40 years.

A complicating factor in the relationship is the folding of the Campbell River and Ishikari Twinning Society which fostered the twinning relationship and facilitated cultural exchanges. A big component of it was student exchanges which were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Ishikari has indicated an interest in resuming those.

A motion to send a delegation was past.