2025 California-Japan Sister Cities Online Workshop
2025/6/13
Official workshop graphic
On Wednesday, May 21, the Consulates General of Japan in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the California-Japan Sister Cities Network (CJSCN) co-hosted the 2025 California-Japan Sister Cities Online Workshop.
Consuls General Yo Osumi of San Francisco and Kenko Sone of Los Angeles, and CJSCN President Meg Mizutani gave welcome remarks. In his remarks, Consul General Osumi encouraged attendees to incorporate Japanese pop culture elements into their sister city activities and mentioned an example of a student who overcame the language barrier and made many friends because of his favorite hobbies of anime and manga.
Under the theme of “From Fandom to Friendship: Pop Culture as a Gateway for Youth Engagement,” participants learned about what businesses are doing to publicize Japanese pop culture in California and discussed a variety of strategies to include pop culture in their sister city programs to appeal to a younger generation. Featured presentations demonstrating best practices were given by Alexandra Horn, Education and Programs Coordinator at the Japanese Friendship Garden Society of San Diego and Board Member of both the San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society and San Diego International Sister City Association; Nao Kondo, Program Development Manager of the Sunnyvale Sister City Association; and Dennis-Michael Broussard, Founder of Silk Road Productions and Board Member of the San Diego International Sister City Association.
36 California cities and 11 Japanese cities were represented in this year’s seminar. Thank you to all the participants and please keep up the great work!
Consuls General Yo Osumi of San Francisco and Kenko Sone of Los Angeles, and CJSCN President Meg Mizutani gave welcome remarks. In his remarks, Consul General Osumi encouraged attendees to incorporate Japanese pop culture elements into their sister city activities and mentioned an example of a student who overcame the language barrier and made many friends because of his favorite hobbies of anime and manga.
Under the theme of “From Fandom to Friendship: Pop Culture as a Gateway for Youth Engagement,” participants learned about what businesses are doing to publicize Japanese pop culture in California and discussed a variety of strategies to include pop culture in their sister city programs to appeal to a younger generation. Featured presentations demonstrating best practices were given by Alexandra Horn, Education and Programs Coordinator at the Japanese Friendship Garden Society of San Diego and Board Member of both the San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society and San Diego International Sister City Association; Nao Kondo, Program Development Manager of the Sunnyvale Sister City Association; and Dennis-Michael Broussard, Founder of Silk Road Productions and Board Member of the San Diego International Sister City Association.
36 California cities and 11 Japanese cities were represented in this year’s seminar. Thank you to all the participants and please keep up the great work!
Consuls General Osumi and Sone, and Ms. Mizutani deliver remarks
Ms. Horn, Ms. Kondo, and Mr. Broussard deliver featured presentations on pop culture and sister cities
