On May 22, 13 students visited from Federal Way’s sister city of Hachinohe, Japan.

Students shared prepared speeches in English with Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell and visited the courts, the mayor’s office and the police station.

“Japan is far from here, but it’s important to know and understand each other,” one student told the mayor in his speech.

The students were each selected from a different school in Hachinohe by their teachers and represent half of the students in the program. The other half will be visiting in September. In Japan, they attend junior college, but are equivalent to 8th-grade students here.

Hachinohe is one of three sister cities with Federal Way. The others include Donghae, South Korea, and Rivne, Ukraine. The sister city partnership with Donghae, for example, has been instrumental in the construction of the Hanwoori Garden, which opens June 10 in Federal Way and features traditional Korean architecture.

Several delegates from Federal Way visited both Hachinohe and Donghae in 2023, and Mayor Ferrell shared some stories from that trip with the students from Japan. After recounting how he had contracted COVID-19 and ended up isolated in a hotel room for a week in Hachinohe, Ferrell told them that “sometimes when bad things happen, a good thing can come out of it.”

This was shown to be true when his sickness ultimately brought a personal tour of the city after he recovered and the opportunity to spend two full days in Tokyo.

“It’s really important, especially in today’s world, we want to understand and to learn,” Ferrell said of international connections like the student program.

On his visit to Tokyo, he was inspired by their transportation systems and how they handle pedestrians, saying that some things he saw reflected the vision the mayor is trying to create here at home.

“What we really want in Federal Way is to create community, get people out of their cars and to experience our downtown. We’re trying to create a downtown that you drive to, not through,” Ferrell said.

When asked about the international community at home in Federal Way, Ferrell said that the “rich tapestry of immigrant communities make us who we are” and that in the U.S., “we are a nation of immigrants,” and that “we need to remember that.”

Sister cities in general give a layer of legitimacy and international friendship outside of nation-level foreign relations. Sister cities can foster global understanding and cultural exchange and economic growth, and can even support each other in times of need.

Federal Way stepped up to support Hachinohe in the aftermath of an earthquake in 2011, and sent resources and supplies to Rivne, Ukraine, after the Russian offensive began in 2022.

Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, sister cities are run by Sister Cities International, which is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that “serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States.”

When asked about other possible sister cities in the future, the mayor explained “it has to be a natural fit” where the other city is just as invested in the relationship.

Discussion among city leaders has touched on the possibility of adding more sister cities at times, including a suggestion by Federal Way City Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson to connect with a city in Ethiopia, but that idea hasn’t yet blossomed into any new relationships.

Having a large local population with a connection to that city and country would also make a difference, as Ferrell noted that “we have very large Ukrainian community” in the city.

To every Federal Way community member who has recent roots outside of the U.S., Ferrell said he wants them to know that “they’re welcome in our community, and we’re happy they’re here.”

Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell hears a speech from a visiting student from Hachinohe, Japan, during the twice yearly student visit from the sister city. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror

Students from Hachinohe, Japan, met local judges and had the chance to ask questions about the municipal court system. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror