The annual New Year's meeting of the 2025 Wa Neighborhood Association - A time when members of the Neighborhood Association gather together to renew their spirits and deepen their friendships in a friendly and enjoyable atmosphere

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

The annual New Year's gathering of the Wa Neighborhood Association was held at the Wa District Community Center from 12:00 on Saturday, January 11th. Approximately 36 members of the Wa Neighborhood Association gathered for the grand New Year's gathering.

Reiwa Neighborhood Association Annual New Year's Meeting

General MC: Hideyuki Hasegawa (Reiwa Neighborhood Association 4-1 Group Leader for 2025)

Announcement of the remarriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi

Before the annual New Year's meeting, neighborhood association member Toshiya Kobayashi announced that he had remarried.

Greetings from Ryuji Hagio (Reiwa 7th year 4-2 group leader of the Wa Neighborhood Association)

"Happy New Year everyone.
Last year began with dark and heavy news, with the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurring on New Year's Day, but I believe that this year everyone has been able to welcome the New Year in peace.

Last year's officers filled out a questionnaire and other surveys. They worked hard to decide how to hold this New Year's party, and with the guidance of Mr. Hasegawa, we were able to set it up in the form of today's annual New Year's party.

I understand that I am unfamiliar with the situation and may not be able to fully understand everything, but although we have limited time, I hope that this will be an opportunity for everyone to deepen their friendships within the neighborhood association. Thank you very much for your cooperation."

Visiting the Shinto altar

Following Yamada Nobuhiro, the neighborhood association president, we faced the Shinto altar and bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed once.

Free sacred sake

Sacred sake was served to everyone.

Greetings from Nobuhiro Yamada, Neighborhood Association Chairman

"Happy New Year everyone.

On a personal note, at the end-of-year general meeting I was asked to take on the important role of neighborhood association president for the year. I will do my best to fulfill this role for the year.

For the past 10 years, Wa Neighborhood Association has held a New Year's party on January 1st. We have held the party on January 1st in keeping with our history and traditions, but due to the changing times and changing needs in daily life, there was talk of changing the date of the New Year's party.

I would especially like to thank Mr. Hasegawa for deciding on today's schedule at the general meeting at the end of the year, and for all his hard work in providing information and coordinating the overall event. Thank you very much. I look forward to working with you again in the future.

Next, I would like to report on two points.

I'm sure you all already know this. Mr. Masatoshi Yamagishi is absent from today's meeting, but last fall he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette, a great honor.

The rules of the Wa Neighborhood Association state that we are to hold a celebration party for recipients of the award. However, today Mr. Yamagishi has a haiku gathering, of which he is the chairman, and he cannot miss it, so he will be absent from the Wa Neighborhood Association's annual New Year's meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to report on the award.

The other point, which was also an issue at the general meeting, is that Mr. Ishida built a house and has been living there since the year before last. We have been asking him to join the neighborhood association for some time, and we are pleased to report that he has now successfully become a member. He is currently residing in a special nursing home for the elderly. Those are the two points.

During this winter season, from December to the end of the year, it snowed so much that it seemed as if the sky was breaking, and I imagine it was extremely hard work shoveling the snow. I was worried about what would happen over the New Year holidays, but on New Year's Day, we welcomed in a refreshing and good new year.

Just when I thought it would continue like this, it has been snowing continuously since the 2nd, and I imagine everyone is having a hard time every day clearing snow. Yesterday, the Sapporo Regional Meteorological Observatory released a long-term forecast for the next month, predicting warm weather and little snow. Spring is expected to arrive early this year in March, so I hope to spend my time looking forward to that.

"Finally, I would like to conclude my speech by praying that everyone will spend this year in good health and with a smile. I look forward to your continued support this year," said Yamada, chairman of the neighborhood association.

Greetings from Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki of Hokuryu Town

"Happy New Year. Thank you very much.

I feel that the times are changing with Yamada-san becoming the neighborhood association president. Congratulations to Kobayashi-san on your marriage.

Hokuryu Town has 10 neighborhood associations, and the current population is 1,593, about 7 people below the 1,600 mark. There are people coming and going, but we are making arrangements to deal with the current situation through various policies.

Kokowa Neighborhood Association is the fourth of the 10 neighborhood associations to hold a New Year's party, and only the fourth neighborhood association will hold a New Year's party.

We appreciate your hard work in setting the dates and other details for this event. It is wonderful to be able to see everyone's faces and talk to you at this New Year's party. We have been doing our best to continue holding various events where we can talk with you, such as the winter New Year's party and summer barbecue.

I would like to introduce Mr. Okuda, who was the construction section chief when I became mayor, to the position of deputy mayor. He is a very light-footed and quick-witted person. Please talk to everyone, including the neighborhood association, about various things on a regular basis. Thank you.

The Superintendent of Education also changed on New Year's Day. Yoshiki Tanaka (68 years old, former Iwamizawa City Board of Education member) lived in Hokuryu Town until he was 22 years old. His mother lived in Hokuryu Town until she passed away at the age of 86. She was an English teacher and also worked as a lecturer for the Board of Education, teaching children a variety of things. He is the son of such a teacher. He has also served as a principal for a long time, so I believe he is someone who can be trusted with the management of educational administration.

Another issue is that the community center, elementary school, and junior high school are all in very old buildings dating back to the 1970s, and although we have endured this, we are reaching our limits. A policy has been decided to merge the elementary and junior high schools into one school with a compulsory education of nine years. We are currently working on integrating the old community center building into a complex facility.

As reported in the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, the cost will be over 5 billion yen. Since then, we have received a variety of opinions. Many have asked, "What are we going to do with that much money?" However, we have the financial resources, so we can build it. We will thoroughly explain the situation to all of you and respond to your various concerns. We appreciate your understanding. We hope you will understand that we are welcoming a new superintendent of education in order to ensure the quality of education as we build the building.

Hokuryu Town is going through a period of change, but we are considering measures to ensure that not even one person loses their population. Thank you for your support. The talk we gave at today's New Year's party will be shared with various neighborhood associations. As a result, we will decide what we will do and how to do it, and we would like to present it to you all.

"We hope that today will be a beautiful day and that we can all work together to create a bright and happy town. I look forward to your continued support this year," said Mayor Sasaki.

Toast

With everyone in attendance, Elder Sato Kaori led a toast.

"Happy New Year everyone. I was nominated because I'm the oldest.

I have been learning a lot from Mayor Sasaki and the neighborhood association president, Mr. Yamada. This year's New Year's party was rescheduled to the 11th, and we had better weather than ever before, so many people came.

We also heard some happy news about Kobayashi-san getting married earlier.

What I find amazing about this neighborhood association is that it has a mayor and deputy mayor. I have high hopes that they will start the neighborhood association and improve Hokuryu Town.

"I would like to propose a toast to Mayor Sasaki, Deputy Mayor Okuda, and everyone else for good health. Please join in. Cheers!" said Sato.

Introduction of your will

Noriaki Nakajima introduced the donations he received for the annual New Year's meeting.

Banquets and bento boxes

Bingo game

Former Chairman Kazuyuki Kosaka gives three cheers

"We had a wonderful time. Thank you very much. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of Group 4 on duty for making all the preparations without any problems.

We pray that this year, Reiwa 7, will be an even better year than last year, and ask that you join us in chanting "Ippatsu Banzai" three times to start the new year. Banzai to the Wa Neighborhood Association and to everyone's happiness!

As we welcome the new year, everyone in the neighborhood association gathers together to renew their spirits and deepen their friendships in a friendly and enjoyable atmosphere, with boundless love, gratitude, and prayers.

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Other photos

Photos (37 photos) from the 2025 Wa Neighborhood Association New Year's Annual Meeting are here >>

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◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)