St. Johns - Konan

History of relationship

Originally, the city of St. Johns established a Friendship City relationship with Kosei, Japan in 1995.  In 2004, the cities of Kosei and Ishibe merged to form the city of Konan as a result of the governmental reorganization encouraged by Shiga Prefecture. St. Johns and Konan have continued the Friendship City agreement. Since the early days of the relationship, a volunteer committee of St. Johns citizens has coordinated all of the activities for this relationship. This committee is called the St. Johns – Konan Friendship Society.

Exchanges 

St. Johns and Konan established an Elementary and Middle School Art Exchange Program in 1996.  Since 1998 the works of students from St. Johns and Konan have been displayed annually in a month-long exhibit at  Briggs Public Library in St. Johns, followed by a similar exhibit at the Kosei/Konan city library. At the beginning of the exhibit in St. Johns a reception is held, which includes elementary students singing folk songs in Japanese.

St. Johns/Konan Art Exchange Program Website: http://art-sjkonan.wikispaces.com/

Exchanges of educators and other citizens have also taken place over the years between the friendship cities. At the very beginning, Kosei-cho school and city officials traveled to St. Johns to help establish the relationship. This was followed over the next couple of years by educators from Kosei who visited the schools and were hosted by St. Johns educators. One of the founding committee members from St. Johns visited Kosei in the summers of 1995 and 1997 while serving as a chaperone for the Michigan-Shiga High School Exchange Program; another founding committee member was an exchange teacher in Kosei for 4 months in 1997/98. Over the years, two citizens of St. Johns have traveled to Kosei/Konan on the Goodwill Mission and many citizens have been happy to host Kosei/Konan guests coming to St. Johns on the Goodwill Mission.

Cultural sites of interest

The St. Johns-Konan Friendship Society, with the participation of many individuals and businesses, developed a Japanese-style garden which was dedicated in 2004. Called the Friendship Garden, it sits adjacent to the Briggs Library. Three Kwanza cherry trees that bloom beautifully each May are a special feature of the garden.

City of St. Johns

St. Johns is a town of about 8,000 people, situated 20 miles north of Lansing. It is the county seat for Clinton County, with the Courthouse overlooking the downtown. Many farms surround the town, the main crops being corn, soybeans, and mint. The mint oil is used mainly as flavoring in candy, chewing gum, toothpaste, etc. A number of dairy farms are also in the area. Several industrial plants are in and near the town, including F.C. Mason Co., which manufactures agricultural equipment. That company was started over a hundred years ago as a manufacturer of buggies pulled by horses.

The St. Johns Public School District is recognized especially for its high-quality fine arts program. Students from the high school drama department, the band, the orchestra and the visual arts department all receive high honors at the state level year after year.

City of St. Johns Website: http://ci.saint-johns.mi.us/
City of Konan Website: http://www.city.konan.shiga.jp