Cultural Exchanges - Sister Schools

Throughout the year students from several schools in Japan visit Portland. Oya No Kai coordinates home-stays and events for these visitors. Often these students are from schools that JMP students have visited during their 5th or 8th grade cultural exchange.

Oregon's Sister State - Toyama Prefecture

Toyama, located in the heart of Japan, is a doorway to the Japan Sea region. Toyama is also a mecca for international theatre arts, annually hosting the Toga World Theatre Festival and the World Children's Theatre Festival.

Portland's Sister City - Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture

Portland established its first formal sister city relationship with Sapporo in 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the U.S. Sister City Program in 1956 calling it the "people-to-people program." The premise of the program was that cities sharing similarities like population, industry or art would find ways to form partnerships which would create an international atmosphere of understanding and respect. Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture; the northern most island of Japan. Each February, Sapporo holds an international Snow Festival. Portland has sent many delegations to the festival and in 2005 a group from the JMP joined the trip.

JMP Sister Schools:

Katoh School, Numazu, Shizuoka
Katoh is a private K-12 school and the first school in Japan to offer English immersion. Katoh staff contacted the JMP in 1992 to request a tour of Richmond and discuss our model program. In 1993 Richmond Principal Rene Ito-Staub and Japanese Resource Teacher Deanne Balzer visited Katoh School and forged a lasting relationship between the two schools. A year later Katoh School began sending teachers annually to Richmond to study the JMP model. Students from Katoh school visit Portland every October, staying with host families from Richmond and other Portland area immersion schools. The JMP 5th grade cultural exchange trip to Japan involves a homestay for some of the students with Numazu families.

Fukuno Elementary, Higashi, Tonami-gun, Toyama
Fukuno Elementary offers a public education to 1st-6th grade. School administrator Mr. Saino has a strong bond with the Japanese Consulate in Oregon and through it came to visit Richmond in 2000 creating a bond between the schools. Fukuno students visit Richmond in late October every year. And 5th grade cultural trip participants visit Fukuno where they perform for the whole school.

Sumaura Elementary, Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo
In response to the devastating Kobe earthquake in 1995, the Richmond JMP students raised money through a penny drive called "Friends Care for Their Friends" to send to the children of the ravaged city. The local YMCA facilitated the introduction to the Sumaura Elementary School. Sumaura is a 100-year-old private K-6 school. As part of our cultural exchange arrangement, students from Sumaura visit Portland in February each year and part of the 5th grade class has homestays with families in Kobe in June.

Three schools, two languages, one community