Consul General Asako Okai of the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver visited Nelson, November 2016
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(l. to r.)
​Debra Kozak, Mayor of Nelson;
Asako Okai, Consul General of Japanese Consulate in Vancouver;
​John Armstrong, President, Nelson Izu-shi Friendship Society

                     Photo   Takashi Nakatsugawa

​In early November 2016, Asako Okai, the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver, visited the West Kootenays.   Ms. Okai became Consul General in April 2016, following her previous appointment as Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka.
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The Consul General’s visit began November 8 in Castlegar where she met Mayor Lawrence Chernoff and members of the Castlegar - Embetsu Exchange Committee.  Castlegar and Embetsu, Hokkaido have been sister cities since 1989. She also spent some time at Selkirk College, where she met the Director, International Education and Japanese students enrolled at the College (for more details and photos on this part of the itinerary click here).  To conclude her day in Castlegar she visited the Doukhobor Discovery Centre (click here).   

On November 9 she visited the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre in New Denver (click here) and then proceeded to Nelson.    While in Nelson Ms. Okai met with the Mayor of Nelson, Debra Kozak, members of Council, and John Armstrong, President of Nelson Izu-shi Friendship Society (click here; and see photo above).
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Ms. Okai was pleased to learn about the delegation to Izu-shi that will take place in late March of 2017.  Mayor Kozak, John Armstrong and 10 other participants from the Nelson Izu-shi Friendship Society will comprise the delegation to Izu-shi. 
More on the delegation members and their itinerary in Izu-shi will be posted here in the New Year.
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