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Wednesday, December 5, 2012 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Orono Weekly Times - 5 Japanese delegation visits Newcastle by: Christopher W. brown christopher@oronoweeklytimes.com Yukinori (You-key-nor-e) Yokoyama (Yo-koh-yahmah) was a former city councillor and Buddhist Abbot (the leader of the temple) in Shinshiro Japan, and last week he spent two days touring Newcastle. He was in Newcastle preparing for the Japanese delegation's arrival in 2014 for the Newcastles of the World Summit. Mr. Yokoyama said that his first impression of Newcastle was "Home. Coming down the highway and seeing the `Newcastle in 10 kms' sign was wonderful. It truly felt like I was at home." Yokoyama said that during the two day trip he was hoping to reach out to business leaders and politicians to make connections before the 2014 Newcastles of the World Summit hosted by Newcastle Ontario. Yokoyama began his trip with a walking tour of historic Newcastle, led by Clarington Museum curator, Charles Tawes. During the tour Yokoyama said that, "Like Shinshiro, Newcastle has deep history, and it's unbelievable to hear that some of the founding fami- lies are still in the community. Like Shinshiro it is very community oriented." Yokoyama said, "The tour was unexpected. You have a long history in such a small space. I couldn't believe that the history is preserved in a community this size." He went on to say that he doesn't believe that there is as much history preserved in his home town of Shinshiro. Bev Jeeves, one of the Newcastle District Historical Society directors, gave Mr. Yokoyama a tour of the Historical Society. Jeeves and Yokoyama spoke about Joseph Atkinson, and the Massey family, two of the more famous families in Newcastle. Yokoyama was pleased, "Mrs. Jeeves seems like a nice woman. She is very informed about the local history in the area." During a one on one with current member of provincial parliament John O'Toole, Yokoyama spoke about the similarities the two communities have. "Like Clarington, Shinshiro is made up of smaller villages, and hamlets. In Shinshiro you don't get access to politicians like you get here in Canada. Mr. O'Toole was very nice and approachable." Yukinori Yokoyama of Newcastle Japan visited Newcastle Ontario last Thursday on a fact finding mission in preparation for the 2014 Newcastles of the World Summit to be held in Clarington's Newcastle. Pictured from left to right, Yokoyama, Bev Jeeves of the Newcastle Village District Historical Society, Charles Tawes curator with the Clarington Museum and Christopher Brown look over an historic Massey seeder. Yokoyama said "We spoke about politics in each other's countries, and spoke about each other's families." Kirk Kemp, President of Algoma Orchards gave Mr. Yokoyama a tour of Algoma's facility. Kemp told Yokoyama, "We are pleased to open up discussion with business leaders in Japan; we are currently in discussions with a factory in China to come over and help them set up a facility." After the tour, Yokoyama said, "It's impressive to see a facility like Algoma in a small community like Newcastle. I didn't expect to see such a large facility like that." The second day, Yokoyama sat down with Clarington's Mayor, Adrian Foster. Foster spoke about the connection the two communities have and the chance to meet the Japanese delegation in 2014, "I look forward to meeting everyone who attends in 2014, I know that we will plan lots of activities for the delegations to do while they are here." Yokoyama said that the meeting was humbling, "We spoke about religion and politics. The mayor seems to be informed about issues that are affecting the residents and seems to enjoy talking to people." He added, "We spoke about the sense of duty that one feels towards elected politics." Yokoyama was given a tour of Clarington's council chambers, he joked, "I wish our council chambers were set up this way. It seems more pleasant. In Shinshiro, the mayor is at the front of the council chambers and councillors are all lined up in front of him facing the mayor. When councillors stand up, they yell at the mayor over the day to day workings of city council. It seems like council would operate more friendly here in Canada, especially in Clarington." Mr. Yokoyama was elected to Shinshiro City Council in 2009 leaving politics in 2011. He says, "Leaving polYOKOYAMA see page 7