THE LOS ANGELES NAGOYA SISTER CITY AFFILIATION (LANSCA)

The cities of Los Angeles and Nagoya became sister cities in 1959‑‑the first such relationship for each city‑‑under the stimulus of President Eisenhower's People‑to‑People Program.  Factors in this tie‑up included an equivalent ranking in size (at that time) in their respective countries and similar port operations bordering the Pacific Ocean.  At the outset, the sister city organization on the Los Angeles side, initially consisted of a small number of interested citizens.  Robert Wilkinson with the Port of Los Angeles became the first Chairman of this committee.  One of the first tests of the sister city relationship came in late 1959 when the Nagoya area was devastated by the Ise Bay Typhoon.  Los Angeles sister city members organized and shipped to Japan relief supplies for the citizens of Nagoya.  The City of Nagoya responded in kind during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994.

Even though it grew in size and undertook a number of exchange activities with the City of Nagoya, including a student exchange, this committee existed without formal structure until March 21, 1963 when the Los Angeles - Nagoya Sister City Committee was formally established.  Then, in 1965 the Los Angeles‑Nagoya Sister City Affiliation (or "LANSCA" as it is usually called) was established as a non‑profit organization staffed by volunteers to assist the City of Los Angeles and the Mayor of Los Angeles in the many activities and functions which surround its sister city relationship with Nagoya, Japan.  LANSCA comes within the umbrella of Sister Cities of Los Angeles, Inc., also a nonprofit corporation that oversees all of the sister cities of Los Angeles, and participates in the activities of Sister Cities International, an organization formed to help sister city programs throughout the United States.  Councilman Tom LaBonge of the 4th District is the current president of SCLA and has been an enthusiastic supporter of LANSCA’s activities.  LANSCA does not receive any funding from the City of Los Angeles for its activities but instead relies upon donations and fund‑raising efforts. 

Over the 50 years of the sister city relationship, there have been numerous exchanges‑‑of official city flowers, zoo animals, children's art, library materials, museum exhibits, baseball and soccer teams, marathon runners, and so forth.  In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Sister City Affiliation LANSCA arranged a beautifully catalogued exhibition in Nagoya of contemporary artists from Los Angeles and received an exhibition of contemporary art from Nagoya next year.  A complete list of the exchanges covers many pages.

Educational exchanges are an important part of LANSCA's activities.  Los Angeles has sent to Nagoya every other year since 1960 four students and one teacher‑chaperone for three weeks of school study, home stay, and travel, on financed scholarships and received an equivalent delegation from Nagoya during the alternate years.  With LANSCA's help the School Board of Nagoya has been employing two teachers from Los Angeles as English language instructors at the Meito Senior High School in Nagoya.

Civic exchanges are a regular activity of LANSCA.  Every year, the City of Nagoya sends a Goodwill Delegation consisting of city officials from the Office of the Mayor and Nagoya City Assembly and ordinary citizens to Los Angeles to participate in the Nisei Week Festival in Little Tokyo.  From time to time, the Mayor of Nagoya visits the Mayor of Los Angeles, and LANSCA assists with the arrangements.  Every fall Nagoya stages a magnificent Nagoya Festival, a multi-day affair attended by hundreds of thousands.  A delegation from LANSCA usually attends and represents the City of Los Angeles in the Festival activities, including the open car parade.

Another major activity of Sister City relationship is the presentation of gifts by each city to the other.  For example, the City of Nagoya has given to the City of Los Angeles via the Sister City Affiliation a beautiful Golden "Mikoshi" Portable Shrine and "Karakuri Ningyo" Dancing Puppets Float, both of which are prominently displayed at the entrance to the Mayor's Office on the third floor of City Hall, an authentic tea house from Nagoya located in Wattles Park, a solar‑powered 26‑foot high stainless steel clock tower located at the corner of First and Main Streets across from City Hall, and a reproduction of the Golden Dolphin from Nagoya Castle in white ceramic material located in the International Section of the Los Angeles Central Library. Furthermore, there is a Nagoya Street in Los Angeles, near the Convention Center, and also a Nagoya Street near Ports O‑Call Village in San Pedro. 

On the Los Angeles side there is a "Los Angeles Square" in Nagoya's Central Park where some of the gifts given by Los Angeles to Nagoya are situated, including an Alabama Rock from the Eastern Sierra, a "Friendship Wall" sculpture by local artist Dora De Larios, five reproductions in bronze of the hand‑and‑foot prints of famous movie stars from the forecourt of the Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood together with an eagle sculpture entitled "Spirit of Freedom" by local artist Brett Livingston-Strong, and a reproduction of 25 squares from the Hollywood Walk of Fame (presented jointly with the Port of Los Angeles).  In the entry to the Nagoya International Center hangs a mural-sized painting of Los Angeles landmarks by artists with the Hollywood Beautification Team.  Most recently LANSCA gave a full-sized Angel statute named “Angel de Los Angeles y Nagoya” painted by students from the Ragan Art Academy, Barnsdall Arts/Friends of the Junior Arts Center which is now located in a public library in Nagoya.

Membership in LANSCA is open to all who are interested in meeting citizens from Los Angeles’ sister in Japan.  The annual membership dues for individuals are nominal. 

For more information about LANSCA and the sister cities program of the City of Los Angeles, visit http://www.lacity.org/SisterCities/.