Today the Edmonds Sister City Commissioners hosted an informational booth at the Edmonds Saturday Market. There were may guests that stopped by to join a raffle for three gift baskets of Japanese 'goodies'. During the morning there were calligraphy demonstrations and in the afternoon children (& adults) learned how to make origami. Thanks to all that came by!

Genkissu Hekinan on July 25, 2009

Genkissu Hekinan is a summer festival. It was held on July 25, 2009. 　And various summer events are as well as held in others’ cities all over Japan for this summer period and their main activities are dance and firework etc. Japanese spend a hot and humid climate enjoying summer festivals.

In Genkissu Hekinan this summer, there were 86 groups composed of 4 sections who participated in the dance and who danced, wearing each interesting and colorful costumes on the main street. The dance groups are divided into 4 sections, children, folk songs tones, pop tones and original by the difference of the choreography. Each dance group had dance in turn for 30 minutes during evening time (4:35pm to 8:00) on the main street as a parade. They danced to madness and showed the visitors their dance with all smiles and vigor while it had been raining off and on during this festival. At the end of the dance, the judges announced prizes for 51 dance groups.

Others’ entertainments except it were held at thee stages. One is the main stage in front of the city hall, where two MC explained the dance groups dancing on the main street and their costumes to the visitors through microphones and on the back side, some of the dance performers in turn showed their original dance to the music performance Hekinan city brass band played. The rest were the two small stages in Hekinan Cultural Center. One was amateur bands performance and the other was dance ones. And a number of busy street stalls were lined up at the parking areas. Many people enjoyed watching the dance parade and the stages show and eating foods of street stalls.

Update for Students that were part of the 2009 Delegation

Dear Students and Family of the 2009 Hekinan Delegation,

As mentioned in our last communication we were holding out hope that the trip cancellation decision would prove reversible; however, unfortunately, it has not. This is most disappointing to us, and the Commission has been working hard to manage the ramifications of this decision, especially those financial. Despite numerous executive level conversations, we have been unable to move the airline or the travel agent to issue refunds, as they cite the tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable. Fortunately however, and most graciously, our Sister City Association in Hekinan has offered to assist with us refunding all fees paid in advance by our delegation.
As you can well imagine, the logistics of coordinating the refund between the two government entities is complex and will take time to process, but here is what we know now:
• You will receive a full refund of the fees you paid to the City of Edmonds to date. We will communicate the refund time line as soon as it is known.
• Since the refund is being provided by our Hekinan Sister City Association, Northwest Airlines will be holding a credit in your travelers' name which will be available for a destination and/or date change of your choice, pending airline and travel agent policies and restrictions.

As we look forward to next year’s activities, we are unable to foresee the landscape of international travel. If next year unfolds as we would like and we are able to send a delegation to Hekinan, we will be sure to contact you for your interest prior to announcing the trip to the public.

We apologize for any difficulties that this cancellation may have caused and hope to see your continued involvement with the Sister City Association. We recognize that you were looking forward to the trip, your furthering of cultural knowledge, and enhanced relationships with your fellow student travelers. Therefore, we will be working to provide you with local opportunities this summer for further interaction with your travel group. We will be in communication again soon.


Thank you,
Edmonds Sister City Commisioners