Alex is traveling to Matsuyama in Japan to study abroad as part of graduate school and Matsuyama is a Sister City to Sacramento! In an effort to promote international cooperation, the Sacramento History Museum has prepared a series of videos highlighting the similarities between Matsuyama and Sacramento. In this video, Alex explores the connection these cities share pertaining to their city flower: the Camellia. On February 9, 1852, James Lloyd Laffeyette Franklin Warren sold the first camellia flower seeds in Sacramento at his New England Seed Store on J Street between Front and Second Streets. Alex is standing at the location of that store in the video. In the 1920s, Sacramento was dubbed the "Camellia City of the World" and in 1941 the camellia became the official flower of the city. Camellias were voted the city flower by Matsuyama citizens in 1971. The history of camellias in Matsuyama has been recorded as a cultural highlight of the area as early as the 1860s. Many of the manho...