Nelson Izu-Shi Friendship Society
  • Sister Cities
    • Origins of the Nelson – Shuzenji (now Izu-shi) Relationship
    • NELSON EXCHANGE VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2024
    • NELSON EXCHANGE VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2019
    • IZU-SHI EXCHANGE VISIT TO NELSON - SUMMER 2019
    • NELSON DELEGATION VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2017
    • IZU-SHI DELEGATION VISIT TO NELSON - SUMMER 2017 >
      • The yunomi jyawan
      • celebratory quilt
      • Saturday market
      • Mona Smith's Photos
      • Flashback to summer
  • Friendship Garden
    • A Short History
    • Building the Friendship Gate
    • COTTONWOOD CREEK SIGNAGE PROJECT >
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - SISTER CITIES
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - FRIENDSHIP GARDEN
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - ECOLOGY OF THE CREEK
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A KTUNAXA COMMUNITY
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A SINIXT CROSSROADS
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - FISH AND FISHING
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - LAKE TO LAKE
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - POWER OF WATER
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - ELECTRIC LIGHT STATION
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - WAGARA RAILING
  • Community Events
    • Community Events 2025 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) - April 2025
    • Community Events 2024 >
      • INK PAINTING & JAPANESE BUNRAKU PUPPETRY - APRIL 2024
      • HERITAGE BC FRIENDSHIP GARDEN TOUR - MAY 2024
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) - May 2024
      • BENTO LUNCH COOKING - JUNE 2024
      • Canada Day July 2024
      • LANTERN MAKING ODORI DANCE PRACTICE - AUGUST 2024
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2024
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2024
      • TAIKO DRUM PERFORMANCE - SEPTEMBER 2024
      • CALLIGRAPY & ORIGAMI - OCTOBER 2024
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2024
      • NABE - WINTER COOKING SAKE TASTING - NOVEMBER 2024
    • Community Events 2023 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2023
      • Canada Day July 2023
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2023
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2023
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2023
    • Community Events 2022 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2022
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2022
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2022
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2022
      • 35Th Anniversary, Opening The Garden Shed, And Honouring Jim Sawada
    • Community Events 2021 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2021
      • Canada Day July 2021
      • Olympic & Para Olympic Cycling July 2021
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2021
    • Community Events 2020 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2020
      • Canada Day Tent July 2020
    • Community Events 2019 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2019
      • Obon Summer picnic - August 2019
      • Onibana Taiko Drumming Performance - August 2019
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2019
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2019
    • Community Events 2018 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2018
      • Canada Day July 2018
      • O-bon Summer Potluck Picnic - August 2018
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2018
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2018
    • Community events 2017 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2017
      • Songs and Laments May 2017
      • Canada Day July 2017
      • Obon Picnic August 2017
      • Otsukimi (Full Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading) Sept. 2017
      • Autumn Leaves October 2017
    • Community Events 2016 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2016
      • Canada Day July 2016
      • Obon Picnic August 2016
      • Otsukimi (Full Moon Viewing and Haiku Reading) Sept. 2016
      • Presentation to City Council September 2016
      • Autumn Leaves October 2016
      • Consul General visits Nelson November 2016
  • About us
    • MEMBERSHIPS
    • Executive and board
    • Contact
    • Brochure
Picture
The Nelson Izu-shi Friendship Society welcomes new members who support the goals of the Society:
  • To deepen friendship and mutual understanding between the sister cities of Nelson, Canada and Izu-shi Japan through  educational,  cultural and economic relationships.
  • To promote world peace and prosperity.
​

To join and become involved contact us via our contact page

​Our purpose is to deepen friendship and mutual understanding through educational, cultural and economic exchanges and to promote world peace and prosperity through cooperation and goodwill between the sister cities of Nelson and Izu-shi.
Since 1987, our society has organized many visits and exchanges between our two cities. Local families have made new international friends by visiting Izu-shi and by welcoming Japanese visitors into their homes.

​Building on the vision and work of volunteers, generous donations, and the support of the two cities, our society created and helps to maintain the ‘Friendship Garden’ in Cottonwood Falls Park. That work continues with our new gate, lighting, and landscaping project in 2018.

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​

A farewell message from the original webmaster, Malcolm Fitz-Earle:
​

​In June 2016 the Society secured the new domain www.nelsonizushi.com  and web hosting.  Sections of the website were developed for Community Events, the Friendship Garden and About Us.  In 2017, the thirtieth year of the sister city relationship between Nelson and Izu-shi, a delegation from Nelson went to Izu-shi in March, and a delegation from Izu-shi came to Nelson in August.  Coverage of the relationship between the sister cities, and the delegations to and from Izu were added to the website.  As well as background to the two sisters’ relationship, extensive photo montages of the events surrounding the delegations may be found in the delegation pages.  Two unexpected features of the delegation from Izu-shi, were the display of the Celebratory Quilt produced for the 15th anniversary of the sister city relationship, and the presentation of a mug (yunomi jyawan) crafted in Izu-shi in the 1960s by a Nelson resident (thus informally the sister city relationship goes back more than 50 years).  The 2017 Obon picnic event was part of the program for the delegation from Izu-shi and included dancers from Izu and Nelson.   Under Friendship Garden you will find pages related to the building and inauguration of the new Friendship Gate at the west end of the bridge over Cottonwood Creek.   It was a busy year and from time to time we had hundreds of visitors to the website.

As a means to increase exposure of the Society, in 2017 we launched the Facebook Group ‘Nelson Izu-shi Friendship Society’ and currently we have approximately 80 members, of whom about a third are from Japan.  The FB group serves as a way to promote events and direct viewers to the website.  The website itself is a contact point for the Society, and a permanent repository of the activities of the Society, and could serve in the future as a payment portal (‘store’) for fund raising (e.g. selling tee shirts).
As my term as webmaster closes, I would like to thank all those members and non-members of the Society who have contributed to the website and FB Group by providing copy and photos for posts and stories.  I would also like to give a thank you to members of the local media who permitted me to use their material (with acknowledgements!).  I would like to thank Keiko Fitz-Earle, who has helped me with almost all the items I have posted over the last year and a half.


*Click the Menu Headings for the main pages.*
  • Sister Cities
    • Origins of the Nelson – Shuzenji (now Izu-shi) Relationship
    • NELSON EXCHANGE VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2024
    • NELSON EXCHANGE VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2019
    • IZU-SHI EXCHANGE VISIT TO NELSON - SUMMER 2019
    • NELSON DELEGATION VISIT TO IZU-SHI - SPRING 2017
    • IZU-SHI DELEGATION VISIT TO NELSON - SUMMER 2017 >
      • The yunomi jyawan
      • celebratory quilt
      • Saturday market
      • Mona Smith's Photos
      • Flashback to summer
  • Friendship Garden
    • A Short History
    • Building the Friendship Gate
    • COTTONWOOD CREEK SIGNAGE PROJECT >
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - SISTER CITIES
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - FRIENDSHIP GARDEN
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - ECOLOGY OF THE CREEK
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A KTUNAXA COMMUNITY
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A SINIXT CROSSROADS
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - FISH AND FISHING
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - LAKE TO LAKE
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - POWER OF WATER
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - ELECTRIC LIGHT STATION
      • COTTONWOOD FALLS PARK SIGNS - WAGARA RAILING
  • Community Events
    • Community Events 2025 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) - April 2025
    • Community Events 2024 >
      • INK PAINTING & JAPANESE BUNRAKU PUPPETRY - APRIL 2024
      • HERITAGE BC FRIENDSHIP GARDEN TOUR - MAY 2024
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) - May 2024
      • BENTO LUNCH COOKING - JUNE 2024
      • Canada Day July 2024
      • LANTERN MAKING ODORI DANCE PRACTICE - AUGUST 2024
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2024
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2024
      • TAIKO DRUM PERFORMANCE - SEPTEMBER 2024
      • CALLIGRAPY & ORIGAMI - OCTOBER 2024
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2024
      • NABE - WINTER COOKING SAKE TASTING - NOVEMBER 2024
    • Community Events 2023 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2023
      • Canada Day July 2023
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2023
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2023
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2023
    • Community Events 2022 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2022
      • O-Bon Summer Picnic - August 2022
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2022
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2022
      • 35Th Anniversary, Opening The Garden Shed, And Honouring Jim Sawada
    • Community Events 2021 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2021
      • Canada Day July 2021
      • Olympic & Para Olympic Cycling July 2021
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2021
    • Community Events 2020 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2020
      • Canada Day Tent July 2020
    • Community Events 2019 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) 2019
      • Obon Summer picnic - August 2019
      • Onibana Taiko Drumming Performance - August 2019
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2019
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2019
    • Community Events 2018 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2018
      • Canada Day July 2018
      • O-bon Summer Potluck Picnic - August 2018
      • Otsukimi Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading Sept 2018
      • Autumn Leaves Oct. 2018
    • Community events 2017 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2017
      • Songs and Laments May 2017
      • Canada Day July 2017
      • Obon Picnic August 2017
      • Otsukimi (Full Moon Viewing & Haiku Reading) Sept. 2017
      • Autumn Leaves October 2017
    • Community Events 2016 >
      • Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) May 2016
      • Canada Day July 2016
      • Obon Picnic August 2016
      • Otsukimi (Full Moon Viewing and Haiku Reading) Sept. 2016
      • Presentation to City Council September 2016
      • Autumn Leaves October 2016
      • Consul General visits Nelson November 2016
  • About us
    • MEMBERSHIPS
    • Executive and board
    • Contact
    • Brochure