Findlay participates in cultural exchange

Findlay is participating in the nationwide Japan-America Grassroots Summit during its 30th year. Over 60 Japanese citizens will stay in Ohio for one week, taking in the sights and sounds of what the Midwest has to offer. Findlay, Columbus, Dublin, Marysville, Delaware, Bellefontaine, Bluffton, Sidney and Troy are participating. This is the first time Ohio has hosted the Summit. Seventeen Japanese citizens will stay in Findlay and Bluffton over the course of the exchange. The Summit began in 1991 as a way to celebrate the friendship between American sea captain William Whitfield and John Manjiro in the 1840s, according to a press release from the The Japan-America Society of Central Ohio. Whitfield rescued the teenaged Manjiro from a shipwreck and brought him back to the United States, raising the boy as family for several years. Manjiro went on to become a translator and played a pivotal role in the beginning of U.S.-Japan relations. The city of Findlay has long cultivated ties with the nation of Japan. Findlay's first encounter with Japan occurred in 1984, when Findlay's government sought out financing to expand the city's water treatment plant from Dai-Kangyo bank in Kawaguchi City, Japan. Japanese businesses began establishing in Findlay as a result. "Friends of Findlay," an association of the companies, was created, and eventually, the state of Ohio and Saitama prefecture became sister cities. The University of Findlay also accepts dozens of Japanese exchange students every year. Domestic students in the Japanese Language program also stay in Japan and attend university for a year as part of the curriculum. Visit www.manjiro.or.jp/e/about for more information about the Japan-America Grassroots Summit.