The City of Homer is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its sister city relationship with Teshio, Japan this year.
Sister cities are places in different countries that usually share weather, geography and industry. And Homer’s been connected with its sister city, Teshio, Japan, since 1984. The same year they became sister cities, Homer sent a delegation to visit Teshio, a city located in Hokkaido, the northern prefecture of Japan.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary, the city of Homer will hold various workshops next weekend, and Homer residents will also have the opportunity to see a gift from Teshio representatives that will be on display at the Pratt Museum. That gift will remain on display through the summer.
Megumi Beams is a liaison between the two cities. She also leads the Alaska Japanese Club, which teaches Homer students more about Japanese language and culture. In addition to teaching students to make cardboard taiko drums and performing in this year’s winter carnival, Beams has worked since 2019 to connect Homer and Teshio students virtually.
Beams hopes these activities will encourage the young students to maintain a relationship that spans across borders.
“That way those generations maybe will be able to carry on our sister city program another 40 years,” she said.
Gary Lyon has been helping plan the celebration. He said one of those workshops will be creating Taiko drums — or traditional Japanese drums — on May 3.
“It's a tightening of the drum head process where people dance on the top of the drum, we tighten it, they get up and dance again and we tighten it. Sounds like fun to me,” Lyon said.
The drumheads are made of cowhide stretched over a frame. The workshop will be at the Kenai Peninsula College, and the performance the following day will be at the Mariner Theater
The workshop will be run by Tomodachi Daiko, an Anchorage-based taiko performance group. The day after the workshop, the performers will teach attendees how to play the taiko drums and perform.
Homer hasn’t sent an official delegation to Teshio in the last 25 years. At least until they sent longtime Homer Resident Cathy Stingley, her granddaughter, and her granddaughter’s friend earlier this year. Stingley said the trip sparked an interest to start up more sister city visits again.
“There were people who stayed with us and went around the town with us and, and made us feel so welcome and so special. And they are now excited again about coming to visit Homer,” she said.
Next weekend’s festivities begin on May 3 at the Pratt Museum with the exhibit on the sister city relationship, followed by the taiko drum making workshop at the Kenai Peninsula College. The festivities will end with performances and a drumming lesson the next day at the Mariner Theater.
