Welcome back to Acton, Nanae!

It was a declaration of renewed friendship heard (literally) ‘round the world.  

Concordians and visitors from Nanae, Japan came together at the Town House Sunday night to celebrate and share a toast to the far-flung communities’ enduring sister city relationship.  

“Hundreds of residents of both the town of Acton and the town of Nanae have visited their sister city and have established countless relationships and friendships,” Acton-Nanae Network (CNN) member Holly Cratsley read from a Massachusetts General Court Resolution celebrating the formal relationship which dates to 1997.   

Shun Katano, 17, of Nanae, Japan, right, listens as the Acton Minutemen perform in front the Town House before a signing ceremony renewing Acton’s sister city affiliation with Nanae. At right, Yuika Kubota, left, and Rio Kubota, both 16 and from Nanae, Japan, listen as the Acton Minutemen perform in front the Town House. Photos by Ken McGagh for The Acton Bridge

The delegation of Japanese visitors arrived the previous day from Nanae, an agricultural town on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. CNN member Mike Lawson said a Acton school bus collected the delegates from the airport and ferried them to their host families. After a private dinner, the visitors walked to the Town House for the ceremony. 

Nanae Mayor Futoshi Sugihara attended the Acton event virtually from Japan, where it was Monday morning.  

Deputy Consul General of Japan Suguru Minoya, Acton Select Board Chair Henry Dane, Sugihara, Lawson and others offered messages of welcome, mutual appreciation and hopes for an enduring and enriching relationship between the two communities.  

The speakers recounted past trips and milestones that have marked the towns’ long-standing relationship, including a shared musical performance by high school students from both towns.  

Acton’s Fife and Drum band filled the Town House with stirring music, and the Minute Men stood by.  

CNN’s Susan Curtin presented Nanae delegate Masaki Niwata with a framed photograph of the Old North Bridge, and Niwata offered the town a hand-crafted ceramic vase by a Nanae artist. 

To enthusiastic applause, Dane announced the Select Board had officially designated October 29 as Nanae Day in Acton.  

Moments of intentional coordination bridged the gap between in-person and virtual attendees: guests in Japan shared a toast on Zoom with in-person attendees after officials simultaneously signed English and Japanese copies of a proclamation renewing the commitment to the sister city relationship.  

On Monday, the delegation braved the rain to tour the spot where the American Revolution began in 1775, approaching from the British side before pausing on the Old North Bridge to  

to hear about the history-changing events and get an up-close look at Daniel Chester French’s Minute Man statue.  

Equipped with colorful umbrellas, visitors from Nanae, Hokkaido, Japan, Acton’s sister city, braved Monday’s rain and clouds for a firsthand view of Old North Bridge and Minute Man National Historical Park. Photo by Celeste Katz Marston

“There’s a lot of cooperation on many levels here, which is really fabulous,” CNN member Nancy McJennett said.  

The school-aged delegates shadowed local students and led cultural presentations, such as teaching students to print their names in Japanese characters.

McJennett said a Japanese English teacher would visit Acton’s schools and a government official from Nanae was to meet with the local public works, fire, and police departments.