Seiji Takeuchi, Chair of the Shimoda City Assembly, joins the long list of Japanese pilgrims that have traveled to The City College of New York to pay homage to its founder Townsend Harris when he visits the institution for the second time on July 17. Since 1986, top civic officials from Shimoda have made annual pilgrimages to City College to honor Harris. After establishing what was then known as The Free Academy in 1847, Harris, a prominent New York merchant, went on to forge U.S.-Japan relations. He arrived in Shimoda on August 21, 1856 to open the first American consulate in Japan. “As the
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