Culver City celebrates 60-year Sister City relationship with Kaizuka

Culver City's relationship with its Japanese Sister City has reached another significant milestone.

Culver City celebrated its 60th anniversary as a Sister City with Kaizuka, Japan, culminating with an exchange between the City Council and Kaizuka Sister City Association Chairman Toshiharu Terada.

Kaizuka was among the city's first Sister Cities, formalizing its relationship in 1965, just a year after the first relationship with Uruapan, Mexico, was formed. The Culver City Sister City Committee (CCSCC) also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Kaizuka Meditation Garden in front of the Julian Dixon Library last year, a long-lasting contribution from the Japanese city to Culver City.

Friendly exchanges between delegates of each city are common, with Terada representing Kaizuka City on this anniversary trip. Kaizuka is a city in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan, around 18.5 miles southwest of the city of Osaka. Kaizuka is known for its production of tsuge combs, which are hand-carved out of boxwood and were traditionally used by samurais to hold their hair in place.

Terada presented Culver City Mayor Dan O'Brien with a pair of wooden combs celebrating the relationship between Kaizuka and Culver City. He also gave a quick address to the city council and audience members in English, showing appreciation for the long relationship between Kaizuka and Culver City.

"We are truly grateful for the longstanding friendship and the deep bond between our two cities that has allowed us to reach this historic milestone," Terada said at the meeting.

In turn, the city presented Terada with a proclamation and a plaque commemorating the occasion, and Mayor Dan O'Brien gave a short commemoration speech. While the plaque was presented on Monday, it has Tuesday's date, April 29, engraved to match the founding date of the relationship in 1965.

During his stay from Saturday until today, Terada was given a tour of Culver City and a taste of the greater Los Angeles area, including a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game. The Dodgers have three Japanese-born players on their roster, including 3-time Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani.

The Culver City Historical Society also hosted Terada Monday, who explored the origins of the United States, California, and Culver City with the guidance of Historical Society President Jack Bommarito. Terada also visited the Culver City Fire Department at their station and was honored at a small gathering at Akasha.

Among those at Akasha to celebrate Terada's voyage across the Pacific was L.A. Kansai Club President Dr. Shinichi Hirokawa. The Kansai Club is a nonprofit organization that holds events and celebrates the culture of Japan's Kansai region, a larger subsection of the Japanese territory that includes the Osaka prefecture and several of its neighbors.

CCSCC President Lisa Saperston said that the relationship with the Kansai Club began last year when the committee reached out to Japanese organizations for the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Kaizuka Meditation Garden.

For more information, visit the Culver City Sister City Committee website here.