Mayor, Wesley president will travel to Japan

Dover Mayor Carleton E. Carey Sr. will head for the Land of the Rising Sun Nov. 15 to visit the Capital City’s sister city, Iwanuma, Japan.

The weeklong trip will be the second time a Dover mayor travels to Japan and the fourth time officials from the two cities will meet.

Every two years, leaders from Dover and Iwanuma have visited each other’s cities. Former mayor Steve Speed went in 2005.

Carey said the purpose of the sister city program is to establish a civil and economic link to a similar city in another part of the world.

Iwanuma, a city of 44,000, is located in the Miyagi Prefecture on the east coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu.

“We like to see the different characteristics of their government and the way they work, to see what we can learn from them. Of course that’s what it’s all about,” Carey said. “We’re trying to keep that door open for imports and exports, as well as for the educational aspect of it.”

Students from Iwanuma also have visited Dover several times in the last few years and participated in programs at Dover Air Force Base Middle School. This past summer, a group of students from the school went to Iwanuma with the school’s Japanese club.

Miki Smith, a Japanese translator who helps coordinate the sister city program, said the mayor’s trip will help solidify the educational relationship between the cities’ schools.

In addition to visiting Iwanuma’s four middle schools and attending a concert at one of the city’s elementary schools, Carey also will talk with local business people and elected officials.

“He’s going to meet with the city government over there, the city council and of course the mayor and other officials from the city to discuss business exchange and things they could create in the future,” Smith said. “He’s going to visit some major corporations in the city such as Toyo tires, and he’ll be meeting with the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.”

The mayor’s expenses for the trip will be largely covered by a $2,500 grant, which is supplemented with $500 from his city discretionary fund. Carey’s wife Blanche will accompany him, but she and the mayor will pay for her expenses on their own.

Also on the trip will be Wesley College President Dr. William Johnston and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Patricia Dwyer.

Johnston and Dwyer will meet with administrators at Miyagi University of Education to sign a formal agreement establishing an exchange program for students and professors.

For Johnston, the agreement represents a big advancement for the college and its reputation.

“It enables our students and faculty to learn other cultures and see the world in a way that is much broader than only the United States or only North America,” he said. “From those who have traveled and had experiences like this, it broadens their whole sense of awareness and perspective and appreciation for different cultures and countries. It’s a phenomenal developmental and professional opportunity.”

Smith said the Dover group also will have the opportunity to experience some of the more quintessential aspects of Japanese culture.

For one, the mayor and company will take part in a banquet honoring their arrival, complete with traditional Japanese Sushi — something Carey said he’s never had, but is willing to try.

The group also will visit the Takekoma Shrine, a Shinto temple built in the seventh century, and ride the bullet train from Tokyo.

“We’re certainly going to experience a different culture, a different way of doing things in another part of the world, and I’ve never done that before,” Carey said. “It will be new for me and my wife too.”

More about Dover's sister city

Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Population: 44,000

Average age: 41

Area: 60. 7 square kilometers (23.4 square miles)

City flower: Azalea

Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com.