Battle Creek and Takasaki — sister cities and a lasting connection

Editor’s note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave’s On the Ground Battle Creek series.

A Sister City exchange between Battle Creek and Takasaki, Japan, created a lasting friendship between two students who continue to connect across thousands of miles and cultural differences.

Battle Creek and Takasaki, Japan may be thousands of miles apart, but for Noriyuki Shimizu and Brisa Hernandez Velasco, distance is not a barrier to the friendship they formed through a student exchange program between the two cities.

The two met in the summer of 2019 as high school students. Shimizu traveled to Battle Creek from his native Japan, where he met Velasco. She traveled later that summer to Japan.

In September, Shimizu came to Battle Creek from Toronto, where he is working in a restaurant during his Gap Year from college.

“It’s insane to think we can just pick up where we left off. It’s a blessing regardless of miles, language and culture,” Velasco says.

When she left Japan seven years ago, she says she remembers telling friends she made there to “remember me and I was telling them no crying, no tears. I promised them I would come back. Even at a young age, I was adamant about that.”

Shimizu stayed with Velasco and her family. During his September visit stateside, he not only reconnected with Velasco but also caught up with his host sister and some of the other students he got to know seven years ago.

The two were members of the last group to participate in the exchange program, which was an outgrowth of a Sister City relationship that began in 1981 with Battle Creek and Takasaki. In 2020, the program was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has not yet resumed, says Breanne Humphreys, a spokesperson for the City of Battle Creek.

A friendship born through sister cities

“The City of Battle Creek has a long history with Takasaki through our sister city relationship,” Humphrey says. “The City Manager, Amanda Zimmerlin, is currently reviewing the relationship and considering the next steps for reengagement. No decisions have been made at this time.”

Now 22 and 23 years old respectively, Shimizu and Velasco say the opportunity to travel, explore new cultures, and develop lasting friendships was invaluable.

Shimizu learned about the program from his mother, who was working in the Hyogo Prefecture City Hall.

“She just randomly found it through Facebook and asked me if I wanted to try a small exchange program,” he says. “One of my dreams was to travel abroad. I was in Battle Creek for 10 days.”

He was the only male in the group he came with.

Discovering a world beyond home

One of his first impressions of the United States, he says, is that “everything in the United States is bigger compared to Japan.”

He also noticed that “Americans are really good at expressing what they feel where the Japanese are good at hiding this. In Japan, it would be a virtue to keep quiet and have group harmony. When I came to America, everyone speaks individually, and I realized they don’t have to be like everyone else.”

Velasco says she experienced the generally reserved and quiet demeanor of the Japanese people during her visit there.

”I have a Latin background. My father is from Honduras, and my mother is from Mexico. I come from a loud, rowdy family and we kiss and hug. I was used to being woken by my mom blasting Mexican music and cooking or cleaning,” Velasco says. “In Japan it was all about not drawing attention to yourself and walking on one side of the escalator. If you’re going to make movements, make them small.”

She tried her best to do this after eating a savory pancake at a restaurant Shimizu’s mother had taken her and a few others to.

”Ten minutes into dinner, my stomach started rumbling because my body was not used to that type of food. Near the entrance to the restaurant, I threw up,” Velasco says.

After that initial trip to Japan, she says she didn’t travel much, but did stay in touch with Shimizu and her host family while completing her education.

A friendship that keeps crossing borders

In 2025, she graduated from Western Michigan University, where she majored in Biomedical Sciences with a double minor in Chemistry and Japanese.

“I work at Pfizer,” Velasco says. “I was pre-med during undergrad. I’m taking a gap year because I wanted to try out working in a lab setting.”

She has plans to apply during the next Medical School application cycle and has her sights set on attending NYU Grossman. She had another goal that she fulfilled over Christmas.

“I promised to myself that I would go back to Japan. I flew out last Christmas day and spent 17 days there. I reunited with my host family and saw Nori and met up with undergrad friends.”

For Shimizu, that first trip to the United States was the beginning of numerous travel experiences that first started with a study abroad program in Canada while he was still in high school.

“After that I was really obsessed with visiting foreign countries,” he says.

He has traveled to a total of 17 countries. 

“Before college it was three or four. In college I studied abroad in France for one month. I’ve volunteered three times in the Phillipines, and I did a charity event in Australia,” Shimizu says. “After the Battle Creek exchange program, I loved learning about people in other countries and how they live and the culture.”

Still in his third year at university majoring in International Studies, Shimizu says he decided to spend a gap year in Toronto where he’ll stay until March, 2027. Fluent in Japanese, English and French, he is learning Spanish and says he’s not sure what he’ll major in.

“I have no idea yet. That’s why I’m working in Toronto to explore future jobs. My father wanted me to be a dentist, but I’m not interested in being a doctor. When I did the exchange program, I realized that I love to meet with new people and learn about the language and culture. I want to stay in different countries for a few years.”

Long-term, he says he wants to live in Japan because, “Japan is the best country” and he is comfortable speaking the language. “My mother always told me that, ‘You need to experience things when you’re young because you can absorb a lot of things when you’re young.’

The importance of going out of your comfort zone: that’s how you improve everything. The reason why I speak English is to get out of my comfort zone.”

Traveling to new places and learning about different people and cultures, “brings you out of your bubble,” Velasco says. “There’s a whole entire world out there that you don’t know about. It humbles you and opens your eyes to other options I could pursue.”