Hiroshima Mayor: 50-Year Sister-City Bond with Honolulu ‘Symbol of Hope’

HONOLULU (July 9) -- The 50-year-old sister-city relationship between Hiroshima and Honolulu serves as a symbol of reconciliation and hope, the mayor of Hiroshima said at a presentation yesterday commemorating this year’s golden anniversary of the relationship.

Speaking at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said that “Hiroshima and Honolulu’s shared status as famous battlegrounds has evolved into a truly warm and creative friendship. Furthermore, I think it has evolved into a symbol of reconciliation and hope for the future. And I believe it is now our responsibility to make the relationship even richer going forward, so that 50 years from now, people will say that the second 50 years of the sister-city relationship between Honolulu and Hiroshima has meant so much.”

The mayor spoke at a special luncheon presentation that also featured musical performances by koto players and taiko drummers from Hiroshima, as well as a poster display of the city’s notable attractions. Accompanying the mayor were the chairman and several members of Hiroshima’s city council.

Click here to view a photo gallery of Mayor Akiba’s visit.

Representing Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, city Director of Economic Development Ann Chung noted that the sister-city bond with Hiroshima was the first of Honolulu’s 24 such relationships.  “This is a very important relationship for Honolulu, and for the mayor personally,” Chung said. “The cultural ties between our two cities are very evident, and we want that to continue for the next 50 years.”

The ties between Hiroshima and Honolulu date back to the late 1800s, when an estimated one-third of the thousands of Japanese emigrants who came to Hawai‘i to work in the sugar industry were from the Hiroshima area. Today, many local Hawai‘i families are descended form those workers.

The sister-city agreement between the two cities of similar size was signed on June 15, 1959, and grew from the “People to People” program established by President Eisenhower in the 1950s to promote peace and mutual understanding between citizens in various countries.

At yesterday’s presentation, East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison acknowledged that the two cities also share a painful history as “bookends” of the War in the Pacific, which started with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and ended shortly after America’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“But then there was a rebirth,” Morrison said. “I think partly because of the experience of the war, people in these two cities were especially dedicated to building a new kind of world, not just for themselves, but for everyone. And the sister-city relationship has been part of that effort.”

Akiba, who was first elected Hiroshima mayor in 1999 and is currently serving his third consecutive term, also serves as president of the worldwide organization Mayors for Peace, which has a vision of promoting a nuclear-free world by the year 2020. Akiba noted that membership in the organization has grown rapidly in recent years and now includes nearly 3,000 cities in 134 countries.

“Our sister-city relationship with Honolulu has really boosted our peace efforts in Hiroshima, and I’m sure the next 50 years will produce even more,” the mayor said.

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The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.