Arlington-Setagaya Committee Participates in Setagaya Town Tourism Exchange Association Annual Meeting

世田谷まちなか観光交流協会総会

by Junko Katada

On June 28, 2022, an annual meeting of the Setagaya Town Tourism Exchange Association (Setagaya Machinaka Kanko Kyokai) was held, to which SJA's Arlington-Setagaya Committee (SETCOM) was invited.  Stephanie Benefield, John McLaughlin, and Junko Katada attended the meeting from the U.S. via zoom.

As this was the first meeting we attended since the SETCOM joined the Association, we introduced our committee and talked about what we do and our aspirations for joining the Association.  We talked about the Arlington-Setagaya Youth Exchange that has been ongoing monthly.  We also talked about an Arlington high school student coming to study at Engei High School, as well as an upcoming visit by Namikawa Sensei, Principal of Engei High School, to Arlington and an upcoming information session on urban agriculture connecting Setagaya's Utsumi Farm and Arlington's Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA).  We informed the attendees that we continue to organize these kinds of grassroots activities connecting Arlington and Setagaya in the hope that we have a sister city agreement concluded between them in the future.