Hiroko Tenorio meets with the rest of the board members of the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands at the Saipan Mayor’s Office.
TOMONORI Ito, the mayor of Katori City in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, will visit Saipan on Oct. 28 to meet with Mayor RB Camacho and continue discussions on a student exchange program and other topics.
Hiroko Tenorio, vice president of the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, said Ito will also participate in the Japanese Autumn Festival and a Shinto religious ceremony on island.
Katori City and Saipan have been “sister cities” since 2021.
In July, Camacho visited Ito in his municipality. A media release stated that among “the items discussed were student and sports exchange programs so as to encourage more visits and bring in more Japanese to Saipan.”
Tenorio said increased Japanese tourism is a goal of the sister-city agreement between Katori City and Saipan.
“That’s a very big part of it. [Mayor Camacho] is really trying to…bring back the Japanese tourists,” Tenorio said.
“Katori City wants to have some kind of exchange program to send students or for sports clubs to have a camp,” she added.
Mayor Ito will travel to Saipan alongside 31 other special guests, including Shinto priests from the Katori City Shrine, Katori municipal staff, and members of the Rotary Club of Katori City.
For his part, Mayor Camacho told Variety that he is also hoping that local farmers can benefit from a connection between Katori City and Saipan, perhaps through training sessions.
He said as part of the preparation for the Katori mayor’s visit, he will plant sugar cane at Sugar King Park.
As for the Japanese Autumn Festival, it will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Carolinian Utt.
Tenorio said at 10 a.m. on that same day, the visiting Shinto priests will conduct a religious ceremony at the Katori Shrine at Sugar King Park.
Tenorio said the Shinto priests used to make annual trips to Saipan to visit the shrine and conduct a ceremony, but they had to stop because of the Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“So this will be the first time [in a while] for the Katori representatives to come and have an in-person ceremony,” Tenorio said.
The Japanese Autumn Festival will feature Japanese food vendors, entertainers from Japan, and traditional Japanese games. A list of vendors and participants will be available soon, Tenorio said.
She added that her organization, the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, will continue to help “boost the Japanese market on Saipan.”
