Alhambra welcomed a special visitor on Friday, October 25 — the mayor of Kirishima, Japan, one of Alhambra’s Sister Cities! The Alhambra Chamber of Commerce hosted lunch for Mayor Shinichi Nakashige and his delegation from Kirishima City together with representatives from the City of Alhambra including Mayor Sasha Renee Perez, Councilmember Adele Andrade-Stadler, Councilmember Jeff Maloney, Assemblymember Mike Fong, and representatives from the Office of Supervisor Hilda Solis.
In 2007, with the leadership of former Mayor Gary Yamauchi, the City of Alhambra established an informal Sister City relationship with Kirishima City, which is located in Kagoshima Prefecture with a population just over 120,000. While it’s not an official relationship facilitated by Sister Cities International, the relationship has been nurtured and maintained through individual efforts from the local governments and communities in both cities to encourage international friendship and cultural exchange.
The official visit by Mayor Nakashige to Alhambra started off with a short welcome ceremony held in front of the cherry blossom trees planted in front of the west side of City Hall, a gift from Kirishima to Alhambra. At the welcome event, the Mayor was presented with a Key to the City by the City Council, as well as a Dodgers jersey during the World Series (where the Dodgers ultimately won the pennant). The group was also joined by Naoshige Aoshima, the Deputy Consul General from Japan, who represents the Japanese government here in Los Angeles.
This visit originated from an invitation Councilmember Jeff Maloney extended to Mayor Nakashige during a family trip to Japan in 2022, when they visited Kirishima and were welcomed by Mayor Nakashige. Councilmember Maloney is part Japanese and his wife is also Japanese, making this a meaningful relationship he wanted to put more effort into maintaining.
“I think there’s a lot that Americans can learn and enjoy from Japanese culture,” Councilmember Maloney said. “Japan also plays a really important role as a strong ally to the United States in the Pacific region, so it’s nice to play a very small role in that.”
In a City Council meeting in July, Councilmember Jeff Maloney requested the Council’s support to officially welcome Mayor Nakashige and a delegation from Kirishima, who would be visiting Los Angeles in October for other business.
The Alhambra Chamber of Commerce, run by CEO John Bwarie and led by President Maria Gao of Evike.com, hosted the welcome ceremony at City Hall and introduced Mayor Nakashige to some of Alhambra’s local businesses including Lunasia Dim Sum House and Yang’s Kitchen.
Representing Alhambra’s business community, this was part of the Chamber’s efforts to bridge local businesses and global resources, as well as attract foreign direct investment in our local community.
“He really appreciated having the community come out to greet him,” Councilmember Maloney said. “Of course, he was really impressed with the food we have here. It was nice to show them a little glimpse of our Alhambra community.”
“The Chamber and the City partner on events like this to ensure that Alhambra is well-positioned to receive businesses and investments in our community,” said John Bwarie, CEO of the Alhambra Chamber. “The Mayor’s visit is one in an series of activities that help realize the economic development goals we share for a prosperous and resilient local economy.”
The Chamber is in the process of planning a business exchange trip to Japan and Taiwan in 2025, with a stop in Kirishima being a focus of the trip. Kirishima is one of four of Alhambra’s sister cities, along with Granada, Spain; Sanya City, China; and Rizhao, China.
