The first student exchange – this time online – brought sister cities together once again last weekend after a six-plus year hiatus for the Sequim-Shiso City Sister City Association’s student exchange program.

Using a large TV screen with Zoom in the Sequim Civic Center on Saturday night, a group of current and past Sequim students, chaperones, school administrators, and City of Sequim officials met virtually across the Pacific Ocean on Sunday morning with a group of Shiso City, Japan students, parents, city and school officials, and the city’s mascot Shii-tan.

Dignitaries from each city spoke, including Sequim Mayor Rachel Anderson and Sequim School Superintendent Regan Nickels, along with former exchange students. Jennie Petit with the Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association translated.

Amy McAndie, a former Sequim exchange student who participated in the meeting virtually from Delaware, shared that the experience helped her better understand Japan’s family values and culture rather than what she knew from pop culture. She was also proud to learn how to use chopsticks from the grandmother living in the home where she stayed.

One former Shiso City student spoke of her experiences in Sequim commenting on how large the grocery store and its parking lot were, that she was impressed the high school had a cafeteria, and that the kindergarten classroom she visited was so bright. She said the experience gave her a lot of self confidence.

From 1994-2019, Sequim sent 120-plus students, typically ninth graders, to Japan with support from the Sequim-Shiso City Sister City Association to represent Sequim as they learned about Japan’s culture, education, family life, and more while living with host families.

Past and present students involved in the Sequim-Shiso City sister city exchange speak via Zoom on Jan. 24-25, depending on the time zone.

The program has been on hold since 2020 due to COVID-19 and other factors, representatives from both sister cities said.

For the virtual exchange, the respective cities sent treats to each other and traditional games to share. Each city’s participants, including Shii-tan, had time to play with yo-yos and balls in cups. They also played videos highlighting each of the cities’ events, geography, and culture.

The meeting was about two hours long with it being nighttime on Saturday in Sequim, and Sunday morning in Japan.

Five current Sequim students and a few graduates participated in the virtual exchange with former students seeing family members they had stayed with overseas.

Bianca Lopez, a current Sequim student participant, said after the virtual meeting she plans to be one of the Sequim students to visit Shiso City.

Last October, Shiso City Deputy Mayor Kenji Tomita and Satoshi Ishihara visited Sequim to meet with local stakeholders about restarting the student exchange program.

Tomita said in an October interview he wants Sequim residents to know how much the partnership means to Shiso City’s people.

“It’s really important that the friendship continues to be strengthened between us and that we really appreciate the friendship,” he said.

“And at a time when there seems to be (various) conflicts going on in our world, it’s important for us to even just have a small amount of positivity that we can bring into making the world a better place. That would be great.”

Shiso City’s mascot Shii-tan shows her skills playing with a ball and cup during a virtual meeting of sister cities Sequim and Shiso City, Japan. The two cities mailed traditional games and sweets to each other to share during the meeting on Jan. 24 and 25, depending on the time zone.

Members of the Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association agreed to a proposal to start a three-year exchange cycle starting with the online exchange.

Sequim students will tentatively go to Shiso City in 2027, and Shiso City students and representatives to Sequim in 2028.

Sequim organizers said they’ll continue to have discussions with Shiso City representatives about timelines, the age and number of the students participating, and other logistics.

Anderson, who volunteers with the Sequim-Shiso Friendship Garden and the Sister City Association, said in October that supporting the partnership with Shiso City is one of the most important things the city council can do.

Five current Sequim students watch a presentation from Shiso City students about their area’s events, culture, and geography on Jan. 24 in Sequim. Local students will tentatively go to Shiso City, Japan in 2027 and their students will come to Sequim in 2028.

History of sister cities

Sequim first agreed to a Sister City agreement on June 5, 1993 with the City of Yamasaki, Japan, which was reaffirmed April 1, 2005 after Yamasaki merged with three other towns to form Shiso City.

In November 1994, then-mayor of Yamasaki Junzo Yasui offered to establish a Sequim garden and help fund it for 10 years. The garden went on to be named the Sequim-Shiso Friendship Garden in Carrie Blake Community Park. Its stone lantern remains a popular attraction of the park’s pond. It was delivered from Japan in October 1997. City of Sequim parks staff maintain the garden with assistance from 10 volunteers who work weekly from April to October on its upkeep.

The Sequim-Shiso City Sister City Association meets at 1:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in the Sequim Civic Center’s Burkett Community Room, 152 W. Cedar St.

For more information about the Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association, call Jim Stoffer at 360-775-9356, email to sequimsistercityassn@gmail.com, or visit sequimwa.gov/239/Sister-City.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim student Maddox Mansun yo-yos as fellow student Roo Yates watches during a virtual exchange with Shiso City students. Sequim and Shiso City sister city representatives mailed treats and traditional games to each other to share during the meeting.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Representatives from Shiso City, Japan mailed sweets to share with Sequim students who plan to participate in the exchange program tentatively in 2027 and 2028.