Colorado's Japanese Americans: From 1886 to the Present

18: Sister Cities

S I S T E R C I T I E S P A G E 171 One day in summer 1960Tamotsu Murayama of the JapanTimes, Japan’s leading English language newspaper, called on me in my office at the Denver Post. I had known Murayama since before the war when he worked on Japanese language newspapers in San Francisco, but he had spent the war years in Japan. He said he had come to Colorado as the leader of a delegation of Japanese Boy Scouts attending a world jamboree near Colorado Springs. But he had come to see me on another mission. “Would Denver consider becoming a sister city with Takayama, a mountain community in central Japan?” he asked. The sister cities movement to promote international friendship and understanding had been launched by President Dwight D. Eisenhower only a short time earlier. Denver already had one sister city, Brest, France. This relationship had been established indepenc h a p t e r e i g h t e e n S I S T E R C I T I E S S I S T E R C I T I E S P A G E 172 dently soon after World War II ended, when France was in dire straits. I responded to Maruyama’s query with another question. “Where in central Japan? Never heard of Takayama.” Murayama explained that Takayama was a community of perhaps 65,000 in the mountains inland from Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city. It had many ancient temples and shrines and was known as the second Kyoto. It was probably too small a target to be bombed by the Americans during the war, so it was unscathed. Like Denver, it was a tourist destination, with sightseeing and festivals in the warm months, skiing in winter, and plenty of hot springs year-round in which to soak away aches and pains. He also explained that although Takayama was unfamiliar with Denver, it had been recommended as a possible sister city by the postmaster at Nagoya because of the many similarities. I expressed skepticism. “Denver is almost ten times as big as your town and nobody knows where Takayama is,” I said. “Don’t know whether there’s any interest here. Let’s go find out.” We walked to Denver mayor Dick Batterton’s office in City Hall where Murayama explained his mission. Batterton listened intently. He could have said he would like to talk to some citizens about the invitation. He was not known for hasty decisions. He could have said he wanted to think about it and find out what the obligations would be. What he did say was: “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s go ahead.” Then he walked to an outer room, summoned the press, and announced that Denver and Takayama, Japan, were about to become sister cities. Next day the Denver Post published a photograph of Murayama in his Boy Scout shorts, showing Batterton pictures of Takayama. The proclamation Batterton signed read: Whereas, the city of Takayama, Japan, has asked to be affiliated as a “sister city” under the program of international good will S I S T E R C I T I E S P A G E 173 proposed by the Department of State of the United States of America; and Whereas, Takayama is situated in a mountainous region in the central part of Japan, and has a background and tradition in many ways comparable to ours; and Whereas, since this is the centennial year of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, such a fraternal tie would be most timely; and Whereas, such an affiliation would in no way affect the association we now enjoy with Brest, France, save to complement and give added significance to Denver’s efforts to promote international understanding and goodwill; Now, therefore, I, Richard Y. Batterton, Mayor of the City and County of Denver, Colorado, do proclaim that Takayama, Japan, and Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., are “Sister-Cities,” and call upon all citizens of Denver to recognize this voluntary tie of friendship with the people of Takayama and take every opportunity to foster a close relationship between the two cities. In witness thereof, I hereunto set my hand and have caused the seal of the City of Denver to be affixed this 29th day of July, 1960. Several weeks later...