1956
The larger vision
The people-to-people program begins
President Dwight D. Eisenhower launches an international effort encouraging direct cultural and civic relationships between people around the world.
Montebello–Ashiya Sister City Association
Our History
More than six decades of friendship, cultural exchange, and community between Montebello, California and Ashiya, Japan.
About MASCA
A community-built connection across the Pacific
The Montebello-Ashiya Sister City Association is a 501(C)(4) nonprofit, community-based volunteer organization. MASCA works closely with the City of Montebello, and the association raises the funding needed for the Montebello student ambassador exchange program and educational scholarships.
MASCA's work is supported by contributions from Montebello residents, individuals, local businesses, and others who believe in the relationship between Montebello and Japan. The opportunities provided to Montebello's youth are matched by the valuable public service MASCA provides to the larger community.
The association creates a meaningful avenue for community volunteerism and gives the city a program of which it can be justifiably proud. Few international sister-city relationships can match the Montebello-Ashiya program for longevity and sustained contributions to the local community.
Through the student ambassador exchange and formal city delegations, generations of relationships have formed between the two communities. MASCA members of all ages have traveled to Japan, met residents of Ashiya, and built lasting friendships. Montebello families have likewise welcomed visitors from Ashiya into their homes.
The idea behind the partnership
People to people
The Montebello-Ashiya Sister City Agreement grew from the “people-to-people” program initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Drawing on his experience during World War II, Eisenhower believed that ordinary people could help prevent future conflict by learning about one another and building relationships beyond national borders.
The road to peace, in this view, depended upon people sharing ideas, cultures, and daily life. Through direct contact, residents of different countries could develop a deeper understanding of one another—an especially important goal during the Cold War.
Sister-city associations became part of the program's civic work. Their mission was carried out through correspondence, visits, gift exchanges, public celebrations, and the personal relationships that grew from them. MASCA continues that mission today.
A lasting partnership
The MASCA timeline
From the first search for a partner city to the return of international travel, each milestone strengthened the connection between Montebello and Ashiya.
1959
The search begins
Montebello looks to Japan
The Montebello City Council authorizes Councilmember Elaine Kirchner to find a sister city in Japan. At a conference in Osaka, she announces Montebello's interest in establishing a relationship with a Japanese city.
Hiroyasu Okiyama, representing Ashiya—a city between Osaka and Kobe—responds. Two years of correspondence between the cities follow.
May 24, 1961
The agreement
Montebello and Ashiya become sister cities
The official agreement is signed at Seido Elementary School in Ashiya. Montebello is represented by Councilmember Elaine Kirchner, Chamber of Commerce President George Driscoll, and Mrs. Driscoll. Ashiya hosts a major celebration in honor of the new partnership.
Gifts are exchanged, including Montebello roses presented for a new park that would be known as the Montebello Rose Garden.
1964
Youth exchange
The Student Ambassador Exchange begins
Montebello and Ashiya begin their student exchanges. Each summer, Montebello sends two student ambassadors to Ashiya to represent the city, while Ashiya sends two ambassadors to Montebello.
A tradition rooted in civic welcome
Ashiya Student Ambassadors Masuda and Fukunaka met MASCA founder Elaine Kirchner at Montebello City Hall. Visiting city hall in both Ashiya and Montebello became a continuing tradition of the exchange program.
The first Sayonara lunch
The farewell lunch for the Ashiya Student Ambassadors was first held in 1964. The Sayonara lunch continued as an annual tradition of Montebello's sister-city program.
1995
A year of recovery
The Great Hanshin Earthquake pauses the exchange
The student exchange does not take place after the devastating earthquake damages much of Ashiya and the surrounding Kobe region.
1996
The relationship continues
Student exchanges resume
Under the leadership of Mayor Haru Kitamura and through the resolve of Ashiya's residents, the city recovers sufficiently for the annual ambassador exchange to return.
2010
Honoring a founder
Elaine Kirchner's legacy continues
Elaine Kirchner continued supporting the Montebello-Ashiya Sister City Association throughout her life. In 2010, she joined the Ashiya and Montebello Student Ambassadors at Montebello City Hall as they were introduced to the City Council.
The Elaine Kirchner Student Ambassador Scholarship Fund
The Elaine Kirchner Student Ambassador Scholarship Fund was established in 2010 to provide educational support to Montebello youth traveling to Ashiya. Donations came from Cook Hill Properties, Bank of the West, Athens Services, and other local businesses and organizations.
The Odou family, including longtime MASCA supporter Dr. Gene Odou, had supported the association since the 1960s. Naming the scholarship for Elaine Kirchner gave formal recognition to the founder of Montebello's international sister-city agreement.
2020–2022
A global pause
The pandemic interrupts international travel
The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halts the in-person student ambassador exchange, marking only the second major interruption in the program's history.
2023
A renewed exchange
Ambassadors cross the Pacific once again
With Japan and the United States reopened for travel, the Montebello-Ashiya Student Ambassador Exchange resumes.
Today
The next generation
More than 65 years of friendship
Nearly 200 young people from Montebello and Ashiya have benefited from the student ambassador experience. The exchange remains the central focus of the sister-city relationship, coordinated in Montebello by MASCA and in Ashiya by the Ashiya Cosmopolitan Association.
The partnership continues through volunteers, host families, students, civic leaders, and supporters who believe that understanding begins when people meet one another.
One friendship, two cities
A history still being written
MASCA's story belongs to every ambassador, host family, volunteer, donor, and community member who has helped carry this friendship forward.