The City of Newport will host a delegation from its sister city of Shimoda, Japan, this week for a series of cultural exchange events open to the public, including ninth-grade students who will tour the new Rogers High School.
The Newport Sister City Commission is coordinating the visit, which begins Thursday with a welcoming reception at the Edward King House at 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
“Check out all of the great activities the Newport Sister City Commission has on tap for this wonderful cultural exchange!” Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain wrote in her latest newsletter. “The events are free and fun!”
Newport City Councilors are inviting the public to join them at the reception to welcome the delegation.
The weeklong celebration continues Saturday with the inaugural Japan America Friendship Festival at Touro Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival is presented by the Japan America Society of New England and made possible by sponsorship from the Japan Foundation, New York.
Saturday evening, the commission will host a karaoke night at Skiff Bar in the Newport Marriott Hotel and Spa from 7 to 10 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Newport Marriott Hotel and Mr. Rocky Kempenaar.
The visit concludes Sunday with a traditional graveside ceremony at Island Cemetery at 9 a.m. to honor Cmdr. Matthew Perry.
All events are free and open to the public.
Newport’s connection to Shimoda traces back to the voyage of Newport native Commodore Matthew Perry, who arrived in Edo Bay in July 1853 to extend a message of friendship from President Millard Fillmore and an offer to establish trade between the two countries. Seeking “friendship, commerce, and protection for our shipwrecked people,” Perry and his contingent of U.S. Navy “Black Ships” — a reference owed to their coal-fired steam engines and billowing smoke — would eventually become revered in and around Shimoda and are still celebrated today.
Newport’s sister city relationship with Shimoda, a historic port and fishing town on the coast of Japan, is the oldest such relationship in the country.
In addition to regular cultural exchanges, the two communities have fostered deeper educational ties over the years by organizing student exchanges and classroom activities. Newport Public Schools will host students from Shimoda as part of this visit, building bridges with Newport’s next generation.
The Sister City Commission, chaired by Brenda Bachman, was established to assist the City Council and mayor in fostering relationships with visiting dignitaries and managing duties related to Newport’s sister city program. Along with Shimoda, Newport has five other sister cities: Kinsale, Ireland; Imperia, Italy; Ponta Delgada, the Azores; Skiathos, Greece; and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.