No.131 Citizen Festival held for the first time in 3 years, guests from sister city Foster City

The 21st I no Machi Inagi Citizen Festival was held from October 21st to 23rd. Due to the influence of the new corona, it was canceled for the second and third years of Reiwa, so it was held for the first time in three years.

While taking measures to prevent infection, such as enforcing temperature checks and hand disinfection at the entrance of each venue, limiting the number of exhibition tents, and making the layout of the venue one-way, we were able to carry out the contents almost as usual. I would like to once again thank all the executive committee members and all those involved in supporting the citizen festival for their efforts.

The city used to hold the industrial festival and the civic cultural festival as separate events. In addition, an event called "Garden City" at Shiroyama Park, which has been ongoing for nine years since the beginning of the Heisei era to create a lively atmosphere in the Tama New Town area, has been canceled due to financial reasons.

At that time, the development of Tama New Town was reaching its climax in the city, and the number of new residents was rapidly increasing.

Under these circumstances, with the cancellation of Garden City, there were growing calls for a city-wide citizen-participation festival as a new place for new and old residents to interact. It was decided to consolidate the various festivals.

In this way, the first event was held in Inagi Central Park in October 2002, and this year marks the 21st event.

Koyodai, Nagamine, and Wakabadai in the Tama New Town district have now become part of Inagi City, and exchanges between old and new residents are progressing.

Citizens' festivals have evolved from exchanges among city residents and exchanges with sister and friendship cities in Japan to become a place for even greater exchanges.

This time, 33 citizens from Foster City, California, USA, with whom we signed an overseas sister city affiliation last July, came to the Citizen Festival on the 22nd and 23rd.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Steve Okamoto, chairman of the Foster City Sister City Association, which serves as a contact point for exchanges on the Foster City side, took the podium and introduced Foster City in Japanese.

On the first day, a welcome party was held at a hotel in Tachikawa. We performed Japanese-style dances, and we performed our songs with guitar accompaniment by the director of the Inagi Sisters and Friendship Cities Exchange Association, which serves as the contact point for exchanges on the Inagi City side. .

On the second day, after seeing the 100-person taiko drumming, we had a luncheon at Yomiuri Land's Tenan, and then enjoyed the interaction with the citizens. An English introduction to Inagi City from children participating in a pen pal (an old-fashioned version of e-mail correspondence), which is currently being promoted by the Interchange Association, is an introduction to the city of Inagi, a civic chorus song, and calligraphy from Komazawa Gakuen Girls' Junior and Senior High School. Showed the performance of the department.

Of the 33 people who came to Japan, except for two, it was their first visit to Japan, and I think they experienced some culture shock. I was very happy as a person to welcome you.

Next February, volunteers from Inagi citizens are scheduled to visit the United States. Everyone in Foster City seemed to be working out ideas for accepting the city, based on the welcome of Inagi City this time.

The conclusion of the overseas sister city affiliation was realized after a long discussion at the Citizen Study Group, but the fact that the actual exchange of people has finally started was an overwhelming event for the members of the exchange association and myself. .

I hope that next year's visit to the United States will be a success, and that homestays for the children will be realized as soon as possible.