Sacramento, CA – On Monday, the Sister City Delegation of Crescent City/Del Norte County and Rikuzentakata, Japan joined Assemblymember Jim Wood and Senator Mike McGuire in the State Capitol for meetings with California Emergency Managers focused on tsunami preparedness.

Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (the event that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant), a small boat belonging to Takata High School in Japan, was swept out to sea and arrived on the shores of Crescent City in beautiful Del Norte County two years later.

Students of Del Norte High School banded together to fix up the boat and sent it back to Takata High School as a goodwill gesture.

What was started out of a tragedy, has now blossomed into a life-changing initiative and the two high schools launched a student exchange program and established a sister school relationship in 2017. In 2018, the two cities formally established a sister city relationship as well.

On Monday, representatives from both cities visited Sacramento for meetings on disaster response and emergency preparedness, covering both tsunami relief and wildfire recovery.

“Our meeting today was so very valuable,” said Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa). “Learning from our Japanese neighbors about their experiences with disaster preparedness and emergency response, and sharing our experiences, is a model of international collaboration and mutual benefit.”

“We were honored to partner with the County of Del Norte and Crescent City to host the Japanese delegation to exchange ideas and share disaster and emergency response strategies focused on earthquakes and tsunamis,” Senator Mike McGuire said. “There is so much still to be learned, and by the two governments working together, we can ensure both California and Japan will be better prepared when the next earthquake and tsunami hits.”

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