Sister City students from Japan take in American culture

Jul 27, 2023

Tatsuki Kordo of Tokorozawa, Japan, talks about teaching Decatur kids to make origami

DECATUR — Having a birthday when you're thousands of miles from home could be an occasion to feel homesick.

But on Wednesday, when Hikari Deguchi turned 16, his host family threw him a surprise party.

Hakari Deguchi, who celebrated his 16th birthday Wednesday with his host family, teaches origami at the Children's Museum of Illinois.

“His (host) dad took him out to eat and when they came back, we were all there and jumped out and yelled 'surprise!'” said Jaci Osborne, Sister Cities chairwoman.

Hikari and five other teens – Yui Kusanagi, Daiki Ak'yama, Tatsuki Kordo, Miki Sato and Mikoto Shiga – from Tokorozawa, Japan, Decatur's sister city of 57 years, are in town to spend two weeks soaking up as much American culture as they can.

Decatur's Sister Cities program is the second oldest in Illinois, with the oldest being Bloomington-Normal's affiliation with Asahikawa, Japan, which began in 1960 with a letter from then-Mayor Robert McGraw of Bloomington to Mayor Yosokici Maeno of Asahikawa. In March 1962, the Sister Cities program officially began between those two cities with proclamations by their respective mayors.

Miki Sato, left, and Yui Kusanagi teach Dalya, Phylicia, Jol-El and Kal-El Cooper how to make origami at the Children's Museum of Illinois.

“The food (in the United States) is different,” Hikari said. “You go to a restaurant and you order a burger and they bring you so many fries,” he added, holding his hands several inches apart to show the size of the portion.

In Japan, he said, portions are not nearly so big.

The students have visited Splash Cove, Millikin University, Chicago – an American city they'd all heard of and wanted to see – and the Abraham Lincoln sites in Springfield. On Thursday, they visited the Children's Museum of Illinois to teach children how to make origami, a skill that most Japanese children learn and practice, said Tatsuki Kordo, the elected spokesman for the group as he has the best command of English, though they all speak the language.

“When I was a children, I made origami every day,” he said. “Origami is most famous and is fun.”

Dalya Cooper admires the paper crane she made with help from the Tokorozawa visitors.

The kids at the Children's Museum, and their parents, took to origami with enthusiasm and with the Japanese visitors' help, made cranes and swans out of small squares of paper.

Yui Kusanagi shows Phylicia Cooper how to fold origami during a visit to the Children's Museum of Illinois.

This is the first group of Japanese students to visit Decatur since the pandemic began in 2020, said Maki Ostrander, a member of the Sister Cities board who is a native of Japan and helps interpret for the students. She has lived in Decatur for more than 30 years. A group of adults visited in November.

Decatur planned to send a group of students to Japan in 2020, Osborne said, but the pandemic put a stop to that.

“We had our tickets and we were all set,” she said.

Students apply to be part of the program and six are chosen to make the trip, both in Japan and in Decatur. This year, Ostrander said, Tokorozawa received the most inquiries ever from students who wanted to come to Decatur.

“Obviously, a lot of people were waiting for us to resume our programs,” Ostrander said. “We're so happy to be able to do this again after the pandemic.”

Any high school student who lives in the greater Decatur area can apply to be a student ambassador to travel to Tokorozawa, or to Decatur's German sister city of Seevetal, when it's Decatur's turn to visit them. It is not necessary to speak the language. The student ambassadors must pay their own travel expenses and obtain their own passports, but will live with a host family in the Sister City and living expenses during that stay will be provided by the host family. Travel expenses can be raised through individual or group fundraising activities.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Artwork from 11 Decatur students was chosen to be sent to Tokorozawa, Decatur's Japanese sister city. Read more about the cultural exchange:

DECATUR— Ingrid Ahlers-Karlsson said even during her second time visiting the United States, there's one thing about the country that continue…

DECATUR — The Decatur Sister Cities Committee is accepting applications for the summer 2019 trip to Seevetal, Germany.

DECATUR – Before Taichi Katayose eats a meal, he says a Japanese blessing. Prior to a dinner he says “Itadakimasu.” Afterwards he says “Gochisosama.”