Students from Hiratsuka, Japan made a stop by Lawrence City Hall Monday to meet with Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei and present the city with a gift, part of a week of events planned through the Sister City exchange program.
Hiratsuka is one of Lawrence’s four sister cities, alongside Eutin, Germany; the Sacred City of Messolonghi (formerly Iniades), Greece; and Tocopilla, Chile. Students from Lawrence visited Hiratsuka a few weeks ago.
The group of 10 students and three chaperones are in town for 10 days with stops planned at KU’s campus, Massachusetts Street and the state capitol in Topeka.
At City Hall Monday, the students spoke with Finkeldei about the government in Lawrence, the history of Lawrence’s connection with Hiratsuka and whether the government is the reason lawns in town are so well kept (not really, Finkeldei said).
The meeting was held on the fourth floor of City Hall, outside the city manager’s office, where decorations from past sister city trips adorned the walls. This year, the students presented the city with a decorative silk cloth.
“I feel that this program is very important for the children of Lawrence city and Hiratsuka city to deepen their friendship,” said Shinichi Murata, one of the leaders of the trip.
He read a letter from Hiratsuka’s mayor Katsuhiro Ochai.
“Thank you very much for warmly welcoming our youth delegation,” the letter said. “We always appreciate your continued support and cooperation for the youth exchange program.”
Katie Trumble, who helped organize the Sister City trip, said the students had enjoyed seeing Lawrence.
Minato Kumagai, a 16-year-old student, said appreciated being welcomed to Lawrence.
“We are looking forward to having a variety of experiences here, such as visiting the fire station and interacting with school students,” Kumagai said. “We hope to build much stronger relationships between Hiratsuka and Lawrence.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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