California-Japan Sister Cities Workshop & Reception in Northern California

On Saturday, January 27, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco co-hosted a California-Japan sister cities workshop and reception with the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles and the California-Japan Sister Cities Network (CJSCN), in cooperation with the San Mateo Sister City Association. This event in San Mateo, “Global Connections: Sister Cities, Business and the Next Generation”, was the latest in a series of periodic sister cities events organized with CJSCN in both Northern and Southern California.

In his remarks, Consul General Osumi introduced himself to the attendees who came from all across Northern California. He emphasized the importance of people-to-people friendships in building peace and also helping each other in times of need, citing Monterey’s fundraising efforts for victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in their sister city of Nanao. He also pointed out that the sister state relationship between Osaka Prefecture and California will be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Finally, he promoted the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, as well as a planned Sister Cities International (SCI) US-Japan Sister Cities Summit in Japan in fall of 2025.
Additional speakers included San Mateo Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash, San Mateo City Councilmember Amourence Lee, Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung, Norcal SCI President Lee Guio, Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California (JCCNC) Vice Chair Tetsuo Oyama, San Mateo Sister City Association Baseball Program Head Coach Danny Harris, and California-Japan Sister Cities Network President Meg Mizutani.