| "This is an accumulation of a lot of hard work by our group here and our Japanese partners," exclaimed Tom Lucas, past president of Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities, Inc. in a brief interview by this writer. "Because of our cultural differences, it took us only a matter of months to get approval from our city council; (while) it took (our Japanese partners) two years. (Obihiro Mayor) Mr. Sunagawa, because they operate differently, wanted to get the consensus of the population to support (this relationship) and this took time." Present Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities Inc. President Jean MacCubbin agreed. "It takes a long time when you have partners so far away -- 5,600 miles -- so it takes a long time for this kind of celebration to happen." While the official signing took years to happen, Lucas was quick to point out that such didn't interrupt their collaborative activities, particularly with the mental health group from Obihiro. "That was one that Obihiro identified -- mental health," Lucas said. "They run their mental health program like we did 60 years go. They warehouse them, while we have changed to residential-care centers. That's what they wanted to do." David LeCount, chair of the Mental Health Committee, Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities Inc., has been in the forefront of this program. He visited Obihiro in 2000 during a national conference to do a presentation on mental health systems, and the positive feedback kept him working with the Madison-Obihiro group until now. "I basically did an overview of our adult mental health system in Madison and our 30 years of evolution from the institution to community practices," LeCount recalled. "They were enamored with it and I think that's one of the primary reasons why we're together at this time. We have the opportunity to study and learn from each other our respective practices." LeCount has worked with Mitsuo Kadoya, president of Obihiro Koryu Association on the mental health area for some time. "We already have had three mental health study site visits from Obihiro to Madison," LeCount said. "I have been there on a number of occasions myself, and we are sharing our respective ideas as to how to promote a community-based services for people with serious and persistent mental illnesses. We've had a long tradition of providing those services within the context of the community, and Obihiro is just starting to evolve community alternatives. Mr. Kadoya has developed some very fine social enterprises for people to work and live and be a part of the community, and they are attempting to simulate many of our practices here." Mitsuo Kadoya affirmed LeCount's observations. "It has been our biggest hope to work (with our Madison counterparts) in the mental health field," Kadoya said to this writer. "We found the ideal model here in Madison and we are trying to bring and spread the system to the Japanese community." In his remarks prior to the official signing of the document, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz acknowledged the efforts at formalizing the Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities relationship during the administration of former Mayor Sue Bauman, and thanked those who composed the local planning committee and their Japanese counterparts. He also noted the many similarities between Madison and Obihiro that could make such a relationship beneficial to both cities: "a great growing economy, home to a major university and other institutions of higher education, and emphasis on agriculture, high tech, research and development, ... four seasons, and many recreational activities." Taking particular attention to the mental health collaboration between Madison and Obihiro, Cieslewicz said he is pleased with the Obihiro delegation studying Madison's mental health system and anticipates many more exchanges ahead. Mayor Sunagawa in his speech said, "I am convinced that Madison and Obihiro could have a relationship that could contribute to the development of both cities," and then invited Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to visit Obihiro next year, eliciting an applause from the crowd. Madison Council President Austin King echoed Cieslewicz assessment. "There are a number of similarities between Madison and Obihiro, and they are astounding," he said. "You don't think of Japan as a place that snows a lot, but many of the day-to-day things that city governments do cross international boundaries. There's actually a lot that we could learn from each other." Austin called the sister cities organization, "Madison Peace Corps." "When you think of the work that they do -- all volunteers -- not only to spread the good word about Madison around the world, but also the charitable things that they do and the cultural events that they bring to Madison, it is one of the best investments we make in the city government, and I think we ought to make a bigger investment," Austin suggested. "But for now, unfortunately, the fight has been just preserving the investment we already made." (The Madison City Council has approved $10,000 in the city budget, to be divided among sister cities organizations.) Lucas observed that Obihiro has a bigger budget for their group that works on sister cities relationships, and that Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities Inc. members spend their own funds to support their work. "The first two years I was president, I think I spent close to $4,000 of my own money," Lucas said. "But it doesn't matter." Lucas implied that those involved do the same and are happy with the outcome of such "expense." Nowadays, there are private sponsors including Kikkoman Foods Foundation Inc. that help promote their collaborative work. People asked me what I saw for the future," said Lucas. "I said it's up to us; there are no barriers. We want to initiate what we can sustain and where we can find it." MacCubbin said that aside from mental health, "We do hope to get into areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, biotechnology, and others." Perhaps the most rewarding benefit of this sister-cities relationship was summed up by MacCubbin when she said, "One thing that we found ... when they (the Obihiro delegation) came off the plane yesterday, we realized that we are friends even though there are so many miles between us." The event's emcees were: * Nino Amato, founder and president of Nino Amato and Associates; an alumnus of the Robert LaFollette Institute of Public Affairs at UW; past president of Wisconsin Technical College System; founder and member of the Wisconsin United Board of Mental Health, and chair of the Madison Task Force on Race Relations * Naomi Shiraishi, born and has lived in the city of Madison for the past 15 years; she received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from UW. She provides translations for the educational and medical professions, and has assisted with one of Madison-Obihiro sister city mental health exchanges. |
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| Heidi M. Pascual* Publisher & Editor * 2006 Journalist of the Year for the State of Wisconsin (U.S.-SBA) |
| Madison-Obihiro Sister Cities relationship Formalizing a milestone |
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| (Counterclockwise from left) Obihiro Mayor Toshifumi Sunagawa and Tom Lucas exchange stories; Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Obihiro Mayor Sunagawa officially sign the Madison-Obihiro sister Cities relationship documenting both cities' commitment and cooperation in many areas of endeavor, while Obihiro Koryu Assn. President Mitsuo Kadoya and Madison-Obihiro sister Cities Inc. Pres. Jean MacCubbin look on. Leaders of both cities put their hands together as a symbol of unity, cooperation and commitment. |
| For the past four years, efforts have been on the way to formalize the sister- cities relationship between Madison, Wisconsin and Obihiro, Japan. The hard work of several people from both cities paid off during the official signing ceremony of the Madison-Obihiro sister cities relationship on October 25 at Olbrich Gardens. A big delegation from Obihiro, Japan led by Obihiro Mayor Toshifumi Sunagawa came to Madison, not only for the official signing ceremony, but for the continuing learning exchange that both cities have long begun in the areas of mental health, higher education, agriculture, business development, technology, and the like. With him included Obihiro Council President Takamasa Suzuki; Obihiro Koryu Association President Mitsuo Kadoya; and Hon. Shoichi Nakagawa, Chairman, Policy Research Council, Liberal Democratic Party. |
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