Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association (MISCA)

04/18/2025

The 14th Annual Cherry Tree Festival will take place on:

Sunday, May 11 from 2 pm - 4 pm at the tent outside the Nicollet Island Pavilion.

Admission is Free.

Activities:
Kamishibai Story Telling
Cha-Ami Japanes Cultural
Japanese Games
Origami
2025 Haiku Contest Awards Ceremony - 3 pm
Harisen Daiko 3:40 pm

11/05/2024

2025 Haiku Contest

The 2025 Haiku Contest for Minneapolis School Students is now open!

This year’s theme is “wa” (和) meaning harmony.Harmony (def) - the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole; an agreement, accord; internalcalm. An important part of Japanese society.

2025 Haiku Contest Rules

Sponsored by the Minneapolis-Ibaraki Sister City AssociationThe International Friendship Association of Ibarakiand The Minneapolis Public Schools.

Rules
1. Only Minneapolis Public School Students, Staff orMinneapolis City Officials or staff may submit entries to thiscontest.

2. Haiku must be entered on an official entry form found onthe Google Forms Link (only one entry per form please), orsubmitted via email see below for the email address or linkto the Google Entry form.

3. Haiku must be three lines following the 5, 7, 5 syllables ruleand reflect images of “harmony” (The Japanese word is wa和 meaning harmony).

4. Entries written in Kanji, Hiragana or Katakana must beaccompanied by a translation into English.5. Entries must be received by Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Google Entry Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelItMq16HwQPzMk2TBfbYoRnxF_-PfeMVQXUcD4Bu-KTiIow/viewform?usp=sharing

E-mailed Entries: [email protected]

05/07/2024

The Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association
Invites you to attend the
12th Annual Nicollet Island Cherry Tree Festival

May 12, 2024
2 – 4 pm
Nicollet Island Park
{In the tent outside the Pavilion}

Admission is Free
{Donations accepted)

Entertainment
2 – 3 pm
Kamishibai
by Karen Kersting

Sword Demostration by Mutokai Iaido & Minneapolis Jo

3 pm
2024 Haiku Awards Ceremony

3:30 pm
Harisen Daiko
Drum Group

Other Activities
Cha-Ami Japanese Cultural Center
Info about Tea Ceremonies
Japanese Games
Japanese Origami
Chopstick Contest
Wander around the thirty Cherry Trees
Visit the “Bell of Two Friends” Sculpture

03/24/2024

The Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association
Invites you to attend the
12th Annual Cherry Tree Festival

May 12, 2024 2 pm - 4 pm
Nicollet Island Park - in the tent outside the pavilion

Admission Free

Entertainment:

Kamishibai by Karen Kersting
2024 Haiku Awards Ceremony
Harisen Daiko Drum Group

Other Activities:

Japanese Games
Origami
Chopstick Contest
Visit the "Bell of Two Friends" Sculpture
Wander around the thirty cherry trees donated by the city of Ibaraki

More information - email [email protected]

11/14/2023

Thursday is Give to the Max Day!

Please think about donating to the Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association.

The first $300 in donations will be matched by one of our members, who wishes to remain anonymous.

MISCA events and activities are staffed by people who have an interest in Ibaraki, Japan and Japanese Culture and who want to share this information with others. They are all volunteers and do this out of the kindness of their hearts. These activities include: the Haiku Contest for Minneapolis Public School students, The Annual Cherry Tree Festival, Sister Cities Day, Holidazzle and entertaining visitors from Ibaraki.

We are focusing on one fundraising campaign this year:

We are continuing our fundraising for the Bell of Two Friends. Winters take its toll on the sculpture and repairs will need to be made again around the year 2030. So, we hope to build up funds over time before the next repairs need to happen. The last repair ran about $10,00 in 2020 and our Repair fund is currently $3456. {The sculpture is made of concrete and the small cracks that occur need to be patched before they become too big and freezing moisture could cause it to break apart.)

Your donation of $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can give will help us to fund the future repairs of the Bell of Two Friends. Of course you can give to the General Fund if you wish, or you can donate to both.

To donate to the future repairs of the Bell of Two Friends, click on this link:

https://www.givemn.org/story/Belloftwofriends

To donate to the general fund, click this link:

https://www.givemn.org/organization/Minneapolis-Ibaraki-City-Cultural-Association

Thank you for considering a donation to MISCA this year.

Help Support MISCA Cultural and Exchange ProgramsMISSIONPart of the mission of Sister Cities is for the local...

05/03/2023

Less than two weeks away! Join Us!

The Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association Invites you to attend the 11th Annual Nicollet Island Cherry Tree Festival!

Sunday, May 14, 2023
2 – 4 pm
Nicollet Island Park
{In the tent outside the Pavilion}
Admission is Free
{Donations accepted)

Entertainment:
Kamishibai by Karen Kersting
Harisen Daiko Drum Group

Other Activities
Japanese Games
Japanese Origami
Chopstick Contest
Japanese Student Art on Display
Haiku Awards Ceremony
Hear and read this year's winning Haikus from Minneapolis
Public School Students

04/23/2023

The Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association Invites you to attend the 11th Annual Nicollet Island Cherry Tree Festival!

May 14, 2023
2 – 4 pm
Nicollet Island Park
{In the tent outside the Pavilion}

Admission is Free
{Donations accepted)

Entertainment:
Kamishibai
by Karen Kersting

Harisen Daiko
Drum Group

Other Activities
Japanese Games
Japanese Origami
Chopstick Contest
Japanese Student Art on Display

11/15/2021

Thursday, November 18, 2021 is Give to the Max Day!

Please think about donating to the Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association this year. Thank you to those who have already donated.

MISCA events and activities are staffed by people who have an interest in Ibaraki and Japan and Japanese Culture. They are all volunteers and do this out of the goodness of their hearts.

However there are still some costs involved and therefore we need your help.

We have two fundraising campaigns going this year:

· Our normal campaign for general funds for our normal events each year: Haiku Contest, Cherry Tree Festival, Sister Cities Day and Holidazzle.

Funds for these events are used to buy supplies, prizes, refreshments and sometimes rental fees for the space or fees for entertainment.

· We are also continuing our fundraising for the Bell of Two Friends. Although we raised enough to repair the sculpture, we are continuing to slowly build up funds for the next time the sculpture will need repairs, as the winters will continue to take their toll on the concrete that makes up the sculpture.

Your donation of $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can give will help us to continue with these programs and fund the future repairs for the “Bell of Two Friends”. You can give to the General Fund, the Repair Fund or both.

To donate to the general fund, click the link below:

https://www.givemn.org/organization/Minneapolis-Ibaraki-City-Cultural-Association

To donate to the future repairs of the Bell of Two Friends, click on the link below:

https://www.givemn.org/story/Belloftwofriends

Thank you for considering a donation to MISCA this year!

The Bell of Two Friends, located on Nicollet Island is in need or repairs.

11/16/2020

Give to the Max day is Thursday, November 19, 2020, however early giving has already begun! Any gifts given any day from now up through November 19 qualifies MISCA to be an entrant for additional monetary gifts given by the Give to the Max Foundation.

Please consider donating to the Minneapolis Ibaraki Sister City Association this year. Although the pandemic has caused many of our programs to be canceled this year, a few are still going on. The Haiku Contest is continuing (with online judging) and we have started a new type of exchange - monthly Zoom meetings with our Friends at the Ibaraki International Network. We are hoping that this coming spring we will be able to resume our usual programs: The Haiku Awards Ceremony, The Cherry Tree Festival and Sister Cities Day.

We actually have two fundraising campaigns going this year:

1) Our normal campaign for general funds for the activities above, with a goal of $1000 this year.

2) We are also continuing our fundraising for the Bell of Two Friends. We successfully raised more than enough funds to completely repair the sculpture this summer. Now we are looking at slowly building up funds for the next time the sculpture will need repairs, as the winters will continue to take their toll on the concrete that makes up the sculpture.

Your donation of $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can give will help us to continue with these programs and fund the future repairs for the “Bell of Two Friends”. You can give to the General Fund, the Repair Fund or both.

To donate to the general fund, click the link below:
https://www.givemn.org/organization/Minneapolis-Ibaraki-City-Cultural-Association

To donate to the future repairs of the Bell of Two Friends, click on the link below:
https://www.givemn.org/story/Belloftwofriends

Thank you for considering a donation to MISCA this year!

11/02/2020

Zenbox Izakaya Restaurant had been the location for the MISCA board meetings until the Covid Pandemic shut down their indoor operations. Board members loved not only the wonderful selection of Japanese dishes that people in Japan would typically eat at home, but also the wonderful service and reasonable prices.

The restaurant is located at 602 South Washington Avenue, not far from the Guthrie Theater and has been operating since 2012.

Although the restaurant reopened with takeout and the outdoor patio when the lock-down was eased, business has still been down – due to the fewer number of people downtown for either business or pleasure.Now with colder weather approaching the outdoor patio area is closing on November 1st.

However, they will still be offering Take-out service and also have delivery service currently through Bite Squad and soon also through Door Dash. Hours of operation are 4 – 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Until they can fully reopen, we encourage you to support Zenbox by ordering lunch/dinner for takeout and or delivery.
You can find their menu and more information at: zenbox.com