While visiting Jasper’s Japanese sister city in 2012, members of council were taken to a beautiful garden to see a very special monument—a white lacquered post commemorating the 40-year relationship between the two communities.
Engraved on the post, in both English and Japanese, are the words “40th anniversary of Jasper and Hakone sisterly relationship.”
“They were very proud of it,” said Mayor Richard Ireland of the post. “It commemorated a planting they made in honour of our relationship.”
In its own gesture, council planted a tree in the Connaught Drive boulevard across from the information centre.
“[But] it’s always been our intent to put up something more than just the plaque that is there, so after seeing what they had done in Japan, we thought we might reciprocate,” said Ireland.
Council intends to recreate the post and to place it somewhere in Jasper. That effort has accelerated in recent weeks with the arrival of an eight-foot post, which Coun. Dwain Wacko picked up on Vancouver Island.
Jasper’s post will commemorate the town’s sister city relationship with Hakone in three languages: Japanese, English and French.
The hope is to have it completed—painted, lacquered, engraved and placed—in time for the Alberta/Japan Twinned Municipalities Association Conference scheduled for June 2015. That conference will be hosted in Jasper and will include a delegation from Hakone.
Council hasn’t yet decided where to put the post, but Wacko suggested that the municipality consider developing a memorial garden, as there is currently nowhere in town to commemorate such things.
“Personally I think we should go a little bit farther with this and create a space somewhere in our municipality—I would think somewhere on the exchange lands—for, let’s call it, a memorial garden.
“I think we should take a corner of our exchange lands, I think we could move those trees over there and place this there.”
Wacko also suggested erecting something to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s visits to Jasper.
The challenge, though, is that the exchange lands—the former site of the Jasper Junior/Senior High School—might not be completed in time for the visit from the Hakone delegation.
But that doesn’t negate the need for such a place within the community.
“I think this all leads into a discussion of our heritage and a location somewhere for things like this,” said Wacko. “At the Parks Canada centennial we had a citizen of the year and where is acknowledgement of that? It’s completely gone. I just think we need a location in our community for these kinds of things.”
In order to create a memorial garden, Wacko suggested that the municipality work together with community partners, like the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives, on a heritage master plan to assess the monumental events that are important to Jasper’s past and future.
In response to Wacko’s proposal, Coun. Rico Damota said “It’s brilliant. I couldn’t have thought of a better idea.”
Wacko has been tasked with gathering more information on what a heritage master plan might look like and what the process would entail.
Nicole Veerman
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