The origins of the Nelson – Shuzenji (now Izu-shi) sister city relationship
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Then mayor of Nelson, Gerald Rotering, looks back on the sister cities and our society’s founding​

Nelson in the 1980s

Standing on vibrant Baker Street today it is hard to remember how depressed the city's economy was in the early 1980s. I myself had a house mortgage at a rate of some 18%, so imagine what that did to the real estate market. The old Notre Dame University campus lay empty, abandoned by the Province. The Kootenay Forest Products site was derelict after both the plywood mill and then the lumber mill closed. Ownership of the city wharf had to be assumed by the City because the federal government could no longer justify its maintenance. B.C. Telephone Company closed its retail and switchboard centre downtown and on Baker Street the former Fields store was empty. The B.C. Parks Branch was consolidated to its office in Cranbrook.

Some brave local investors were putting their money down, though, such as the Martin family at the Hume Hotel, and a trio of brave locals who bought the Fields building. Historic-building facade renovations had made downtown look better, but a lot more needed to be done to restore Nelson to its economic heyday.

In that context I was elected in 1985 on a platform of aggressive economic initiatives, and a year later several irons were in the fire. We convinced the Province to sell us the university campus for a dollar, assuming an expensive liability for buildings that were in places ankle-deep in dead flies. A Canadian group was found to initiate a prep school there, but another economic wobble soon killed that. We took over the wharf and had City Treasurer Lloyd Moseley checking every forgotten drawer in city hall for money to rebuild it. I had to announce that not a foot of roadway would be paved nor a block of sidewalk could be laid until the situation improved.

No idea was too crazy if it might bring tourists or investment to our city. I even grew sideburns and donned an old-time costume borrowed from the Capitol Theatre to obtain promotional TV air time in Spokane.

Idea for a Japanese sister city
 
In the mid-1980s the Japanese government was promoting the idea of sister city relationships, to encourage young Japanese to visit other countries.   As part of the ‘internationalization’ process, a number of cities and towns in Japan were actively searching for Canadian cities. 

We agreed to pursue the idea and soon we had a visit from lawyer Ichizo Okada, representing the Japanese Overseas Cultural Association (JOCA). He looked around town and told us he'd soon be back with a recommended sister city in Japan. Some months later we first heard of Shuzenji-cho (“cho” meaning “town”).
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​Nelson City signs agreement
 
In May of 1987 Nelson City Council adopted a resolution of sister-city linkage. It became my job to create a supporting society, so I set a signing date (31 July 1987), churned out news releases, invited the MP, the MLA and everyone I thought might have interest in cultural exchanges with Japan. 

To my surprise, dozens of citizens showed up for the signing , as did the member of the Japanese Senate who chaired their overseas association, Mr. Okada  of JOCA, MP Bob Brisco,  MLA Howard Dirks, and a touring group of 50 Japanese high school students.

It has to be said that not everyone was on board in those early days. When I asked Council for some money to visit Shuzenji-cho for a signing there, to initiate youth exchanges and to discuss business ideas, I was turned down.  But the Canadian group to which we'd leased the university campus had also started looking---perhaps a bit desperately---to Japan, and soon had a connection that led to creation of Canadian International College. It was that corporation that soon had me on a plane with Premier Bill Vander Zalm for a Tokyo announcement about their new school in Canada, and our Council then got on board politically and financially, for the signing in Shuzenji. 

While all of this was only 30 years ago, Japan outside of Tokyo had yet to experience much Western contact and hardly anyone outside major cities spoke any English. Local advisers like Hiro Kasai warned me that some Shuzenji-cho city councillors might not yet have met a white man. Sure enough, while I bowed to them a bit self-consciously, they would shake hands and not know to then let go, making the first business meetings feel more like dates.

Nelson Shuzenji Friendship Society formed
 
Nelson's community response to our new Japanese sister city impressed me no end. From my create-out-of-thin-air signing meeting, locals took up the idea, quickly incorporated, raised funds, ,  and soon initiated the first youth exchanges; amazing. Within two years the Shuzenji City Council had visited Nelson.

Our Council, School Board members and Chamber of Commerce people had all been there. Shuzenji city even built a mini-Nelson in a theme park comprised of international villages on a hill with views of Mount Fuji.

Gardens for lasting relations

One of the key agreements following the signing was that the mayors from Izu-shi and Nelson agreed to build gardens for lasting relations.   Shuzenji added a Canadian section to their  pre-existing international theme park, that was modelled on the traditional architecture of Nelson’s Baker Street and the iconic ‘Big Orange Bridge’.  The Friendship Garden at Cottonwood Creek took much longer to reach fruition.  A group of enthusiasts was assembled in 2002 and the garden was completed by 2005.   The beautiful Japanese stone lantern in the garden was donated by Shuzenji two years before it was located in the garden.  For more on the garden’s origins click here.

Youth exchanges

Youth exchanges between Nelson and Shuzenji expanded the horizons and changed the lives of many citizens of both communities. My own step-son began learning to speak Japanese at CIC during its first year and was among our Friendship Society's first youths crossing the Pacific. He never looked back and today lives with his Japanese wife and their three daughters on Japan's northern-most island, Hokkaido, in a Nelson-like ski resort town.

Congratulations on 30 successful years of Nelson-Shuzenji (now Izu-shi) friendship and exchanges!

Gerald Rotering, Mayor of Nelson (late 1985 – late 1990)