On Thursday, Eugene welcomed seven high school students from its sister city, Kakegawa, Japan. This is the youth delegation’s first visit since 2019.
Mayor Kaarin Knudson and a co-chair from the city’s Youth Advisory Council greeted the delegation at the Eugene City Hall.
The students received a tour of the building, including the council chambers, where they learned how local government in Eugene works.
Ryoko Kitagawa, one of the visiting students, said she was excited to compare and contrast the two cultures.
“I'm now really…interested in the difference between Japan and the U.S.” said Kitagawa. “I think both [have] a nice culture and I want to think about those difference[s].”
Knudson said delegation visits like these create learning opportunities, and help bridge communities across the world.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for our community to have connections across the world, to other places that we might share similarities with, in terms of our size or types of industry or history and experiences,” said Knudson. “Or, our experiences could be completely different!”
The delegation will be in Eugene for four days. An adult delegation from the same city visited Eugene last August.
