JAPAN

JAPAN- Our oldest and most active relationship is with Hitachi. Since 1983 over 250 Birmingham youngsters have traveled to Hitachi. We have an agreement whereby 2 Birmingham college graduates are employed by the Hitachi Board of Education for years service, and over 20 young people have participated in this program. Birmingham sent Hitachi a 10 foot replica of Vulcan which is displayed in the park overlooking the city.

Birmingham received large stone lanterns which greet visitors to the Botanical Garden. Hitachi has sent several delegations of city and economic development officials to Birmingham to study how we changed to a diverse economy. Adult exchanges have included museum groups, environmental groups, women’s rights groups and many other people of varied backgrounds. Positive media attention for this relationship has been common in Japan. For example several years ago when the Japanese Prime Minister made statements disparaging America’s multi-ethnic nature a Japanese film crew from their version of “60 Minutes” was in town for another story and also coincidentally there was a delegation of Japanese youth visiting Birmingham with home stays with local children’s families. The interviews of the Japanese and Birmingham children talking about how their experience had helped them understand each other was featured prominently on Japanese media in stories about the PM’s gaffe. A very positive rebuttal of a politician’s gaffe.

We also have a very positive relationship with Maebashi as a friendship city. They also employ our students, they have featured Birmingham poet Samuel Ullman in their city poetry museum and are sponsoring a major art show in Birmingham in 2005.

For more information about Hitachi, go to
http://www.city.hitachi.ibaraki.jp/upload/english/

For more information about Maebashi, go to
http://www.mcity-guide.jp/english/intro/index.html

Latest News
We are working on an exchange of animals with Hitachi's Kamanie Park Zoo and our Birmingham Zoo. We will exchange a pair of beavers for a pair of Tanuki (raccoon dogs). In June 2006 we sent a group of 12 high school students for a week in Hitachi and we will host a group of 15 middle school students in Birmingham Aug. 3-6 2007.

Birmingham Public Library will host a series of classes this summer to prepare students for the Hitachi Civic Center Computer Art contest. We also had a successful exchange of runners to Maebashi for their Marathon and will host runners from Maebashi for the Vulcan Run next year.