February 17, 1996

Seventeen students and one teacher along with two city officials from the town of Nishikawa, Yamagata made a trip to Boulder. The group is a part of ongoing exchanges and friendship visits between the cities Nishikawa and Frisco, Colorado. They visited UNCAR, CU and the downtown mall.

The Yamagata Prefectural Government Delegation

June 2-6, 1996

Colorado's sister state in Japan, Yamagata Prefecture celebrate their 10th anniversary. A large delegation totaling 180 people, led by Governor Takahashi arrived and festivities were held in both Boulder and Denver.

The Pearl street Mall was one of the sites where the 80 member folk dancers from all over Yamagata performed during their visits to Colorado. Dressed in colorful costumes, the ladies of Yamagata Folk Dance Association sang and danced for a very enthusiastic noon time crowd. They also performed for the residents of a retirement home.

Boulder was honored to host many government officials and members of prefectural assemblies. Also visiting were many business leaders from Yamagata. A group of executives consisting of 19 men and one woman paid their respect to Mayor Durgin and council members at City Hall. they stayed on to observe the citizen participation process part of the city council meeting. They thought the process quite fascinating and wanted to stay longer to find out how the city and council members resolve the issues which many citizens were concerned about.

The New Business Study Group was also in town. Their technical visits included CU's Entrepreneurship training program and the Boulder Technology Incubator.

Tetsuo Tan, an associate editor from the Yamagata Shinbun newspaper, accompanied the delegation. He reported the delegation's activities back to Yamagata daily

Yamagata Prefectural Extended Study

July 11, 1996

A Yamagata prefectural officer, Ken Ikeda, arrived for a two-month stay. While here he will be studying at the International English Center.

Yamagata Students Summer Program

July 29, 1996

A group of 44 students from Yamagata Prefecture spent two days in Boulder. They represented 5th-10th grades. Accompanying were two chaplains and the editorial staff of the Yamagata newspaper. The group met with Mayor Durgin and also toured the University of Colorado.

Yamagata Prefecture's Extended Study Program

August 20, 1996

Mr. Takashima from Yamagata Prefecture will spend the next two months studying at the International English Center. He is the second officer this year to be sponsored by the Yamagata Government's Oversea Extended Study Program.

Yamagata Prefectural Volunteerism Study

September 3, 1996

Four officers from Yamagata Prefectural government were in town for 3 days to study volunteer activities and educational systems. They actually did volunteer work at the Community Food Share. Their other technical visits included the University of Colorado, Boulder Valley Public Schools Technical Education Center and Boulder Community Hospital.

Yamagata Police Department

September 12, 1996

Detective Sagawa from the Yamagata Police Department returned to Boulder for a week. He will be sending another police officer here for a short study program in the Spring of 1997.