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Greater Lafayette prepares to welcome visiting students from its sister city in Japan
An annual cultural exchange honoring a sister city agreement between Greater Lafayette and Ota City, Japan, will take place August 5-14. Around one dozen middle and high school students and two chaperones are expected to visit Tippecanoe County, continuing a tradition started in 1998, the first year Ota City sent students to Greater Lafayette.
“The sister city relationship was formalized in 1993,” says Collin Huffines, economic development manager for Greater Lafayette Commerce and program coordinator for the sister city student exchange. “The impetus for establishing the relationship with Ota City was the opening of the Subaru plant in Tippecanoe County in 1989. At the time, Subaru was headquartered in Ota City and although the headquarters has since relocated to Tokyo, the company’s main manufacturing presence remains in Ota City.”
Huffines was part of the Greater Lafayette cohort of 11 students and two chaperones who traveled to Ota City for the student exchange in July 2024. During their visit, students participated in a diverse range of activities, including visits to local police and fire stations, a traditional tea ceremony, meetings with local officials and tours of Subaru’s main manufacturing facility, the Museum of Kanayama Castle Ruin and city hall. They also experienced the Kegon Falls and the summer festival. Participants stay with host families, providing for a more immersive experience and broadening the cultural exchange.
“My host family drove me to the drop off point every morning — that was my first experience in a Smart car,” Huffines says. “Ota City has more urban density than Greater Lafayette, so their streets are smaller, and therefore their vehicles are a lot smaller than what we’re used to. People avoid driving as much as possible. They spend more time walking and biking. Whereas for people who live here, especially in subdivisions, that might not be practical.”
The American students who visited Japan learned to observe cultural norms, such as using chopsticks, taking shoes off at the door or carrying around a hand towel because public restrooms don’t typically provide paper towels or hand dryers.
“I had never used chopsticks prior to my first visit to Ota City,” Huffines says. “The Japanese use chopsticks at every meal. My host family recognized early on that I did not have experience using chopsticks, so they’d always get a fork out for me, but I wanted to try and learn. By the end of the week they were pleasantly surprised with how capable I became.”
This year, it’s Greater Lafayette’s turn to show the students from Nippon the best of our community, and Huffines is looking for families willing to host visiting students. Activities are planned during the weekdays, so host families are expected to provide transportation for students in the morning and late afternoon as well as provide dinner and breakfast. On the weekend, host families are encouraged to explore local attractions or introduce students to their favorite places in Greater Lafayette.
“Staying with host families is an important part of the program because it allows students to participate in American family life,” Huffines says. “They would not get the same cultural experience staying in a hotel.”
Recruiting volunteer host families also helps reduce the cost of the trip for participating students. Funding for the student exchange program also is provided by Tippecanoe County, the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette, Duke Energy, Subaru of Indiana Automotive and Wintek.
Greater Lafayette Commerce organizes the weekday activities, which in past years have included meeting with the mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette as well as the Tippecanoe County commissioners, touring Purdue’s campus, the Subaru plant and Cook Biotech and, of course, local delicacies such as the Original Frozen Custard and Arni’s pizza.
“In 2023, the Japanese students were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors to figure out who would have to finish the last few slices of pizza,” Huffines says. “They were obviously stuffed, but one of the chaperones explained that the Japanese aren’t big fans of leftovers. If something is served at the table, you finish it. These are the types of moments where you learn little things that you could never pick up from a textbook.” ★
Interested in hosting?
Contact Collin Huffines, program coordinator, at chuffines@greaterlafayettecommerce.com
All host family applicants will be subject to a background check.
