Local residents saw shrines, ancient dances, sushi, grassy hills and miles of coastline when they visited Hanford's sister city earlier this month.

In continuance of a long-standing, long distance partnership, about 15 of Hanford's high school students and adult delegates visited Setana, Japan, during the first week of June. They then continued on to visit Sapporo, a larger city on the island of Hokkaido. Also as part of the partnership, residents of Setana visited Hanford in October. Setana residents will visit again this fall.

Mayu Ueno, a 17-year-old resident of Setana, was one of the visitors to Hanford in October. Ueno stayed with local resident Miranda Rhoads' family during her visit. When Rhoads, 17, visited Setana, she stayed with Ueno's family.

"There was a language barrier because they only knew a couple of English words and we only knew basic Japanese words," Rhoads said, adding that she had to use hand gestures to communicate. "But they were all super nice."

The visit to Japan, from May 31 to June 10, was Rhoads' first trip overseas. She is a member of the Multicultural Club at Hanford High School, and said she has always been interested in Japanese culture.

Rhoads described Setana as a "really small" town where everyone knows everyone. She added that Setana residents are mostly helpful and polite, though are very reserved.

But during the last part of the trip activities were far more lively, as Rhoads and the other delegates visited Sapporo, which she compared to Los Angeles. While in Sapporo, the Hanford residents performed in the annual Yosakoi Dance Festival.

"It's just a complete culture difference," Rhoads said of Setana.

Johnathan Wan, a 16-year-old student at Hanford West, had traveled to parts of Asia prior to this trip, but not Japan. Wan said that he can't learn enough about Japanese culture and history. He enjoyed staying with his host family in Setana and getting to experience daily life. Setana is a town of about 3,000, with a high school population of 50 students.

Wan said he really enjoyed visiting Setana's high school and performing in the dance festival.

Wan described Setana as being similar to the lush green of west Oregon. He added that "everything there is really clean." He described their daily hygienic process, where everyone showers to rinse off and then bathes in a hot tub.

"Japan is such a unique country," Wan said. "It was a really neat experience and I was really glad to be a part of it. I definitely encourage future high school students in Hanford to be a part of this great opportunity."

Teams from Hanford visit Setana once every two years.

Some of this year's visitors to Setana already knew what to expect. Two of Isaac DeLaCruz's older brothers had made the trip in previous years, and they encouraged DeLaCruz to go. DeLaCruz, 16, had never been out of the country -- except for one venture to Mexico -- before this month, and said "everything about Japan I was turned on to."

DeLaCruz said the most common occupation in Setana is fishing, and they ate fish every day. By the end of the trip, DeLaCruz was excited to stumble upon a Mexican food restaurant where fish wasn't on the menu.

"I wish I could go back" DeLaCruz said. "If I ever get the chance, I will go back. It really impacted me a lot."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2424.

(June 28, 2008)