Briefly in the news

Paul Clinton

Mayor Koichi Shabata of Okazaki, Japan, was warmly welcomed in in

Newport Beach, his sister city.

Shabata came to Newport Beach on Monday to renew the bond between the

cities, eat lunch at Mama Gina restaurant and tour Newport Harbor.

“I hope today will help overcome the differences in culture, custom

and language,” Shabata said at a morning ceremony in front of the Newport

Beach Central Library. “As long as we have friendship and trust each

other, our relationship will continue.”

Councilman Steve Bromberg pledged Newport Beach’s support, signing a

renewal of a document and handing over a shiny, ribboned key to the city.

“The sister city program is important,” Bromberg said. “It perpetuates

culture. It perpetuates friendship.”

Since Newport Beach and Okazaki became sister cities in November 1984,

more than 800 exchange students have traveled both ways for a glimpse of

a culture different from their own.

In 1984, the previous mayor of Okazaki gave Newport Beach a stone

statue as a gift. Titled “Nakayoshi,” the Japanese word for friendship,

the statue was moved from behind City Hall to in front of the central

library two years ago, said Karen Evarts, president of the local chapter

of the Sister City Assn.

Okazaki is a town of about 340,000 residents that’s a three-hour train

ride southwest from Tokyo.

Newport Beach has three sister cities. The other two are Antibes,

France, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.