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Sapporo and Portland Mayors Celebrate 65th Anniversary of Sister-City Relationship at Portland Japanese Garden

Posted by Portland Japanese Garden on
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto on the east veranda of the Pavilion. Photo by Jonathan Ley.

2024 marks the 65th anniversary of one of the United States’ oldest and strongest sister city relationships—Portland, Oregon in the U.S. and Sapporo, Hokkaido in Japan. This sister city relationship, which has fostered an everlasting friendship across the Pacific, has also come to be manifested in more tangible forms, including Portland Japanese Garden. The formal bond created with Sapporo was a catalyst for the development of Portland Japanese Garden and the Japanese city and its people have been instrumental in the organization’s continued success for more than 60 years. The Garden was honored to celebrate the milestone anniversary by holding a reception for Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler in June.

Garden Curator Hugo Torii (right) gives Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto a tour of Portland Japanese Garden. Photo by Jonathan Ley.

“I’m glad for this memorable 65th anniversary and this great party with Mayor Wheeler,” shared Mayor Akimoto in remarks delivered on the Mount Hood Overlook near the Garden’s Pavilion.* “My first visit to Portland was 35 years ago. It’s my pleasure to be here with all of you looking at Mount Hood over there and the city of Portland and in this beautiful Japanese garden. Mount Hood looks like Mount Fuji…it took me 20 hours to come here from Sapporo [through] connecting flights. When I got to Portland it felt like I had come back to Japan. It’s hard to find a [Japanese garden as beautiful] as this one in the U.S., but it’s also hard to find in Japan too. …I hope this friendship we have nurtured for 65 years will continue for 70 years, 80 years, 100 years, and forever.”

  • Portland Japanese Garden and Japan Institute CEO Steve Bloom, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto with the wishes they wrote for the Wish Tree art installation. Photo by Jonathan Ley.
  • Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler hangs his wish. Photo by Jonathan Ley.

The formal remarks concluded with Mayors Wheeler and Akimoto as well as Portland Japanese Garden and Japan Institute CEO Steve Bloom writing down wishes for peace to be hung up on a Wish Tree, an art installation by peace advocate and artist Yoko Ono, held in the Garden in collaboration with gardens on four different continents and the Nobel Peace Center in Norway.

*Mayor Akimoto’s remarks were delivered in Japanese and translated live. They have been edited for clarity.