Guam joined more than 700,000 people for the largest festival in the Chiba prefecture of Japan called the Kashiwa Matsuri. The annual festival, which celebrated its 42nd year, was held in Kashiwa City from July 27-28, 2019.
Exchanges between Guam and Kashiwa City began with the Kashiwa Matsuri in 1985. A friendship agreement was also signed in 1991. Since then, the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) regularly attends the festival to reinforce Guam’s longstanding commitment and support of its sister city. Students from Kashiwa additionally visit Guam every year to participate in cultural and educational exchanges. More recently, Kashiwa’s Young Entrepreneurs Group (YEG) began visiting Guam and worked with local agencies to develop and promote commerce exchanges.
“Tourism has worked to build our sister city relations and friendship with the people of Kashiwa City,” said GVB President and CEO Pilar Laguaña. “We look forward to more cultural exchanges between Guam and Japan, and also finding ways to revitalize overseas travel for our source markets.”
The Guam delegation that participated in this year’s festival was led by GVB Board Chairman P. Sonny Ada. They met with key officials including Kashiwa Mayor Hiroyasu Akiyama, Chamber of Commerce President Tetsuo Terajima, as well as the Kashiwa Young Entrepreneurs Group and the Kashiwa International Relations Association. The group partook in the festival’s opening ceremony and Miss Earth Guam 2018 Emma Sheedy participated in their Kashiwa Odori dance contest.
While in Japan, GVB also met with airline and travel trade partners. Meetings were held with Air Busan, China Airlines, JTB, and TOBU Top.
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