ISP & Hachinohe

Two years after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Oregonians walking along the coast discovered some items that had washed ashore. They turned out to be kasagi (top beams from sacred Japanese Shinto gates, also known as torii) that had traveled across the Pacific in the wake of the tsunami.  

The curator of the Portland Japanese Garden, ISP alumni parent Sadafumi Uchiyama, diligently located the origin of the kasagi: the village of Hachinohe in the Aomori prefecture. As the Garden prepared the kasagi for a send-off ceremony back to Japan, Masami Sensei’s 2nd/3rd class became involved in a project to fold 1000 paper cranes (senbazuru), which traditionally represent a wish coming true, that would accompany the kasagi in their journey. Soon, people across the ISP community were folding cranes to contribute to the project; we were even featured in a documentary by Japanese news station NHK! 

This connection ultimately resulted in a relationship between ISP and the Hachinohe school district. In November 2019, fifth grade Japanese Track students embarked on the school’s first Capstone trip to visit Hachinohe, where ISP students had homestays and attended school. Taka Sensei said, “The host school made our stay fabulous. Everything we did was special and gave us memories for a lifetime. We were proud to introduce Portland and ISP to them in return. All my students now have firsthand experience of the power of language and cultural immersion.”

We look forward to celebrating our continued friendship in the coming years!