Tottori and Vermont 

Tottori and Vermont, though separated by thousands of kilometers, shook hands in 2000, swore friendship in 2008, and embraced as siblings in 2018. As part of this relationship, youths of Tottori and Vermont have had the opportunity to travel, stay, and learn in the other region. There, they come face to face with their host’s culture in an invaluable opportunity to not only develop perspective and objectivity but also forge a friendship that overleaps the distance.

Governor Shinji Hirai and Governor Phil Scott celebrating the Sister State Agreement 

The Tottori Prefectural International Exchange Foundation and Green Across the World have been conducting this youth exchange program since 2009. To date, Tottori has sent 11 delegations of high school students to Vermont and hosted 7 delegations from Vermont on this program. In 2020, not a single student from Vermont or Tottori boarded an aircraft for the long flight to the experience of a lifetime in their Sister State. 

 

Through Thick and Thin 

Strained but not broken, 18 of the young adults of Tottori who had participated in the program filmed, edited, and sent a message to reinforce the friendship. Out of consideration for the Vermont students that had lost their opportunity to visit Tottori, the video consists of three segments: 

1.) The sights of Tottori that they would have seen

2.) The culture and festivals to which they would have been introduced

3.) The words of welcome and friendship they would have heard 

Only be available until March 31, 2021, please take this time to appreciate the luster of a friendship that sticks through thick and thin by watching this video message.