Sister Cities
Fort Bragg in California and Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture are sister cities. The program was launched by a man in Otsuchi who lost his father at sea in a fishing accident when he was a young boy. He would sit on the bluffs overlooking the ocean and search for any sign of his father. When he became older, he began to wonder what it was like on the other side of the ocean. He drew a line across the Pacific and found Fort Bragg at the exact same latitude. In 2001, he made contact and invited Mayor Jere Melo of Fort Bragg to visit Otsuchi. The cities started with student exchanges. Shown below is a picture of Fort Bragg School Superintendent and my son Packie Turner delivering a quilt I made during the first exchange. In 2005 Mayor Dave Turner went to Otsuchi to make the two cities officially sister cities.During the first student exchange I made a quilt called "Hands of Friendship". To make the quilt I traced around the hands of all the students, Japanese and American, on the exchange. I put the hands in the center representing our world. Next I had each of the students sign their names and I put these around the outside, making a border. At the top of the quilt I made Log Cabin blocks because students would be staying in a family home. It was important to mark this great event with a quilted gift for our sister city Otsuchi.
Otsuchi Memorial Service for Tsunami Victims
The Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011 was a severe natural disaster that occurred in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. The event began with a powerful earthquake off the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island, which caused widespread damage on land and initiated a series of large tsunami waves that devastated many coastal areas of the country, most notably in the Tōhoku region (northeastern Honshu) including Otsuchi. Out of a population of 15,000, at least 1,500 people, including the Otsuchi’s mayor, perished in the disaster. Members of the Fort Bragg Otsuchi Cultural Exchange Association mobilized to create an Otsuchi Relief Fund. The entire community rallied to raise funds to help the families in Otsuchi who had lost their homes, businesses, and families. Although Fort Bragg’s population is only 7,000, the city has been able to raise over $250,000 for Otsuchi.The Quilt "We All Live Under the Same Sky" is a quilt that I started the year before the tsunami. It is made up of thousands of 1" half square triangles. It is the Tree of Life block set so four tree tops touch and make a secondary pattern of stars. We live near the redwoods and always camp one week of the summer in the woods. When I look up at the night sky with so many stars, I always imagine who else is looking up. My mother saw the quilt in progress and said: "Who are you making this for? It is so dark." I didn't know.
When we received the invitation to go to our Sister City's Memorial Service I wondered what gift could we possibly bring? Tree of Life, night sky? I designed the center of the quilt after I knew we were going. In Japan the fern is a symbol of family and new life. The very center swirl is a symbol of eternity. I was thinking of it as a connection between those that were lost and those that remained.
One Thousand Cranes
In February of 2012 my husband Dave got a letter from Mayor Yutaka Ikarigawa of our Sister City in Japan asking if he would attend the memorial service for those lost in the tsunami. The letter said he could bring one guest; we would be housed in a town 2 hours away because there were no hotels after the devastation. I brought the quilt “We All Live Under the Same Sky” to give as a gift. This quilt Hopes and Dreams is made from the one block I had left over from the quilt I gave our Sister City.Hopes and Dreams is the original name of our student exchange program. I saw a lot of paper cranes on my trip to Otsuchi. I saw total devastation, acres of sorted garbage, a city completely leveled by earthquake, tsunami and fire. I also saw a lot of paper cranes. The Mayor had 1,000 paper cranes hanging outside the temporary City Hall. They say if you make a thousand cranes your wish will be granted. I started making cranes as soon as I got home. I told the story of our Otsuchi journey to the Sunrise Soroptimists and told them I was making cranes. The following week there was a small bag of paper cranes on the windshield of my car. I have sewn those into the tree. I made the cranes to process the sorrow I saw and felt; I made them to remember those lost; I made them so our friends still living in Otsuchi would be able to make a home again. Is that three wishes?
