Come join us at our dinner and auction on May 1, 2008!
As a kickoff to our Golden Anniversary and to honor the start of Japan's annual Golden Week, please come join us for dinner and an auction at Legin Restaurant, 8001 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97206. Festivities start at 6pm. Our auction items include a wedding kimono and a Japanese doll, handmade by a citizen in Sapporo. More information here.


Hokkaido Pottery Society Delegation to Portland
The Oregon Potters Association (OPA) is honored to celebrate the Hokkaido Pottery Society’s Fortieth anniversary by including the work of twenty-four Hokkaido potters in a special gallery at Ceramic Showcase, 2008 held at the Oregon Convention Center, April 25-27, 2008.

Please join us in welcoming 15 Hokkaido potters from Sapporo, Japan to Ceramic Showcase 2008. They bring with them a breadth and diversity of clay techniques and styles, echoed by the range of artistic expression in the works of OPA members. Although we do not share a common verbal language, we look forward to a dialogue through the medium of clay.

Hokkaido Potters Society history is here.
OPA Ceramic Showcase info is here.


Welcome
Welcome to the home page for the Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association. We are located in beautiful Portland, OR, home to a vibrant and thriving Japanese community. Our relationship with Sapporo started in 1959 and is Portland's longest running Sister City relationship. We are celebrating our 49th year and are looking forward to many more years of friendship and cooperation.

Sapporo is located on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Sapporo and Portland are similar in size, geography, and citizens' attitude toward open spaces and a clean environment. Through our relationship with Sapporo, thousands of Portland children and adults are exposed to Japanese culture by group affiliations and special events.

An active, all volunteer organization, PSSCA has been the recipient of many awards over the years. Some of the most recent are:

• Readers Digest Foundation Award for outstanding Sister City programs (6 times)


• Japan Foreign Minister's Commendation - 2004


• Portland Mayor's Spirit Award - 2004

Our recent 45th Anniversary celebration was huge success in both cities, with official delegations traveling to the Sister city for a week-long celebration. PSSCA hosted approximately 60 Sapporo citizens in June, 2004 for a series of special events, visits with businesses and civic leaders, and a picnic attended by several hundred people. A delegation from Portland visited Sapporo in February, 2005 lead by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and his wife. Our delegation of 40+ enjoyed 5 days of special events, headlined by the opening ceremonies of the world famous Sapporo Snow Festival. Both groups had an excellent experience in the Sister city and plans are already underway for the 50th Anniversary coming up in 2009. There will be many local activities and opportunities to visit our Sister City.

We hope you spend some time looking around our site and learning more about this special relationship.