Mendocino Sister Cities Association
Official Website
History
A Brief History of the Mendocino Sister City Association
Miasa is located on Japan's main island of Honshu in Nagano Prefecture, about 150 miles northwest of Tokyo in a small mountain valley surrounded by foothills, rice paddies, and old farmhouses. Miasa, which means, "Beautiful Hemp" in Japanese, is near the Northern Alps and the ski resort of Hakuba, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Miasa is very small and not found on most maps, but it is situated within ten miles east of the city of Omachi.
In 1957, Bill and Jenny Zacha moved to Mendocino from San Francisco with the dream to build an art center in a community where creative people could live, work and teach. Two years later, Bill found an ideal site, the old Preston estate, which was a burned-out mansion on one acre on Little Lake Street. It had been used in the film "East of Eden" made in 1955 starring James Dean. With $50 down for a total of $5,500, Bill and Jenny bought the property to create what is now known as the Mendocino Art Center. As a result of a 1961 Look Magazine article on Mendocino and the Art Center, ("Young Man Saves an Old Town"), the town became known throughout the country as a tourist destination.
In 1964, the Zacha's went to Japan where Bill made the acquaintance of
woodblock artist, Toshi Yoshida. In 1971 Yoshida came to live and teach
printmaking at the Art Center. When he returned to Japan the following
year, he was determined to create a Mendocino-style art center there. He
eventually found an abandoned turn-of-the-century school house in the
little village of Miasa which he established as the Bunka ("Culture")
Center. The Zacha's returned to Japan, and Bill made a series of 55
serigraphs of scenes along the ancient Tokaido Road.
In 1980, guided by the efforts of Toshi Yoshida and Bill Zacha, Miasa
and Mendocino formalized their sister-city relationship. The agreement
was signed by Miasa's mayor, Takemoto Nakamura, and Chairman of the
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, Norman deVall. On July 4, 1982, a
Peace Plaque solemnizing the Sister City tie was placed on the Headlands
and an identical one was placed at the Miasa School. The plaque,
authored by the late Paul Sutterley, reads:
"Behold the sea ...the citizens of Mendocino and Miasa, Japan dedicate
this plaque to the peaceful pursuits of the peoples of the Pacific Basin
and to the protection of its environment that all living things there-in
may exist in perpetual harmony."
At the ground-breaking ceremonies for Friendship Park (named by Bill
Zimmer), Miasa Joined Mendocino in the festivities. Again a plaque was
unveiled, reading, "Friendship Park - a special place in the Community
of Mendocino dedicated by the Sister Cities of Mendocino and Miasa,
Japan, July 4, 1990." Dirt samples from every major league dub and from
Miasa were combined and added to the home plate area. Mayor Nakamura had the honor of turning the first shovel of dirt, and the mayor presented
the park association with $1,000 from the people of Miasa. A picnic
table sits beside a bed of Kikyu poppies from Miasa with yet another
plaque which reads, "For Friendship's Sake, from the Sister City Miasa." Miasa's blue and white flag can be seen flying at the ballpark.
In 1992, the Mendocino Sister Cities Association formally joined the
national organization, Sister Cities International. And in 1993, under
the guidance of our then vice-president, the late John McConathy, the
Mendocino Sister Cities Association (MSCA) was granted non-profit status.
The village government invited Mendocino to send a local teacher to
assist with the first "youth exchange." In the summer of 1992, Kay
Corcoran spent one month in Miasa and returned with the Japanese
delegation of 23 fifth and sixth graders and Miasa's mayor, Yoshio
Yoshizawa. The following summer (1993), Kay organized the first visit of
23 Mendocino Middle School students and 10 teachers and parents who
traveled to Japan. That summer, David and Betty Cross were the guests of
the Miasa village and assisted with the arrangements. In 1994, a group
of 50 visitors came from Miasa, including 35 fifth and sixth graders.
Marci Van Sicklen and Shizuko McConathy organized the 1995 visit of
Middle School students and parents to Miasa.
In August of 1996, the Miasa government invited Mendocino County
Supervisor, Charles Peterson, to be their guest in Miasa for one week.
His return trip was coordinated so that he could accompany the third
delegation from Miasa (including 23 students) on their trip to Mendocino.
The sister city relationship was continued with the May 1997 Mendocino student delegation's visit to Japan which was organized by Jeff Kraut and Bob Rhoades. In May of 1998 the fourth delegation of Miasa Grammar School students and adult chaperones came to Mendocino (27 students and 12 adults). Music, dancing (traditional Japanese dancing, square dancing, Pomo Indian dancing), canoeing at Big River Beach, Miasa-Mendocino, youth ball games at Friendship Park and a visit to the Middle and Grammar Schools were featured as part of their stay. In 1999, the fourth group of Mendocino Middle School students traveled to Miasa under the leadership of Marci Van Sicklen, Kay Corcoran and Shizuko McConathy.
For the first time, the MSCA sponsored a young adult, Heidi
Kraut, to go to Miasa a few days ahead of the delegation in order to
help the Miasa people prepare for the visitors. Heidi was chosen because
she had traveled to Miasa as a middle-schooler and bad continued her
studies of the Japanese language at Texas A& M University. In 2001,
another young adult, Amanda Price, was chosen to accompany the Mendocino group to Miasa. Amanda had been a middle-school traveler to Miasa and was then inspired to spend her junior year of high school as an exchange student in Okinawa, where she became fluent in Japanese.
For the 36th anniversary of the Mendocino Art Center in August, 1995, the village of Miasa presented Bill and Jenny Zacha with a gift of a
"doso shin," a granite sculpture, typical of the Nagano region, to
commemorate their importance to the people of Miasa. Both communities
were saddened by the passing of Toshi Yoshida that summer. His career
spanned more than six decades and produced an exquisite body of work,
some of which can be seen at the Showcase Gallery. During the month of
August 1997, a remarkable show of printmaking by three generations of
the Yoshida family was organized by Bob Rhoades at the Mendocino Art Center.
During the November 1997 visit by Mayor Yoshizawa and a delegation of village officials, we were presented with seven tickets to the 1998
Winter Olympics and seven tickets to the March 1998 Paralympics at
Nagano. In addition, we were given the equivalent of $10,000 to pay for
the costs of coastal residents with disabilities to attend the
Paralympics. As a result, seven fortunate individuals attended the
Winter Olympics and seven others, were selected to attend the
Paralympics. Once again, the homestay experience was part of the trip
and indeed most memorable.
On March 19, 1998, the death of Bill Zacha saddened the coastal
community. Our organization notified our sister city by letter on behalf
of Jenny Zacha, acknowledging Bill's deep love for the Japanese people
and culture. They were very proud of our sister city relationship, one
more aspect of the Zacha's legacy.
Mendocino and Miasa continue to do the alternating student visits. Recently there is talk of starting a similar adults-only exchange. In order to inform Mendocino residents about our Sister City relationship and raise money for a scholarship fund to help Mendocino students go to Miasa, the Mendocino Sister Cities Association has held an annual Sushi Sale at the Friendship Park 4th of July Celebration, but now that venue has ceased being profitable and so we are now hosting an annual Dance fund raiser, other events once or twice a year and also researching methods of receiving grants from the government or corporations.
In 2006 the Japanese government consolidated cities and districts throughout the country, during which Miasa was incorporated into the nearby larger town of Omachi. We now refer to our Sister City as Miasa-Omachi. Mendocino and Miasa-Omachi continue to do their alternating student visits.
In addition, in May 2008 a very successful Inaugural Art Exchange Show was held in Mendocino at the Mendocino Art Center. Eight artists from Miasa-Omachi displayed their works and three artists traveled to Mendocino to attend the show in 2008.
The next Art Exchange Show was held in Omachi, Japan to coincide with the Mendocino student visit in June 2009. In June, 2009 nine artists from Mendocino County traveled to Miasa-Omachi to attend the show. A total of 29 artists displayed their works in the month long show and in September ‘09 another successful show was held in the large nearby city of Matsumoto at the Matsumoto City Museum of Art.
In May of 2010 the Third Annual Art Exchange Show took place at the Mendocino Art Center to coincide with the Miasa-Omachi student visit during the same month. 14 Miasa-Omachi artists participated in the show with nine artists traveling to Mendocino for a week long stay. The Miasa Middle School showed up for a seven day visit just as the artists departed. Their student group included 26 students and 14 adults.
In late June 2011, 22 Mendocino K8 students, along with 15 adult chaperons and nine Mendocino County artists will travel to Japan for a two week visit. The artists will go to Miasa-Omachi upon arrival to participate in the Gala Artists Reception for the 4th Annual Sister Cities Art Exchange Show in Omachi, while at the same time the student group travels for 10 days before their arrival in Miasa. The artists will have departed Miasa a few days before the students arrive and they will travel around the country until the two groups meet up again in Tokyo for the flight home in mid July.
To date, this 20 year annual exchange has influenced the lives of over 500 students and 250 adults. Some Mendocino students have gone on to attend high school in Japan just as some Miasa students have later attended school in Mendocino. One Mendocino Middle School student who first visted Japan during the 2001 exchange now lives and works in Japan.
Mendocino's relationship with Miasa-Omachi continues into the 21st
century as envisioned by the late Bill Zacha and his friend, Toshi Yoshida.
