Getting to Rapid City from Nikko City, Japan, can be a challenge.

Trans-Pacific flights, a layover or two, and finally a small regional jet at Rapid City Regional Airport are all par for the course.

But when 13 Nikko City residents who were headed to town this weekend to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Rapid City's Japanese sister-city program missed their flight to Rapid City, organizers had to get creative.

And after a long night on the road from Minneapolis, the group rolled into Rapid City early Friday morning - in a limousine bus, equipped with neon blue interior lights and wraparound seating.

"It was like a night club or something," interpreter Hisako Jones said, laughing. "We were exhausted at the airport, waiting, but when we saw that bus, we got really excited."

Despite the trip's rocky start, that excitement continued Friday, the first day in a whirlwind tour of Rapid City and the Black Hills to celebrate the ongoing cultural exchange between the two cities. For the weekend, the group planned an 1880 Train ride, a gift exchange with Mayor Alan Hanks and visits to Crazy Horse, Deadwood and Custer State Park.

"Everyone who visits Rapid City has unforgettable memories," said Yoshiaki Ohashi, vice-mayor of Nikko City.

Rapid City and Nikko City have been sister cities since 2007, but the relationship goes back much further than that.

In 1994, Rapid City began a Sister Cities International exchange with Imaichi, Japan, a city that merged with another city, two towns and a village in 2006 to become Nikko City. The others also had sister cities, but the ties to Rapid City were the strongest.

As sister cities, Rapid City and Nikko City host annual student exchanges every summer and adult delegations twice a year. In April, five Rapid City residents traveled to Nikko City during the height of the cherry blossom season.

"Foreign relations, it has to start at this level," said Travis Sutterfield, president of the Rapid City-Nikko City Sister City Association. "We've been going strong for 15 years. It doesn't have to be that complicated."

Sutterfield said the cities were paired because they are similar in size and are tourism oriented. Nikko City is home to one of the most famous monuments in Japan, the Nikko Toshogu shrine.

"They really try to find a twin," Sutterfield said. "Rapid City and Nikko City, they're almost identical."

Looking out from the 1880 Train winding through the Hills between Hill City and Keystone, Jones said the scenery may be different in Nikko City, but the idea is the same.

"It's a very famous tourist place - lots of nature, like here," Jones said.

Yoshiko Takezawa, a Scout Association of Japan troop leader for 30 years, has been to South Dakota before for Boy Scout exchanges and jumped at the chance to see Rapid City again.

"The first time I came here, it was wonderful," she said through a translator. "Every time I come here, I like to come again and again.

"It's a wonderful place, … but I wish it were a little closer to Japan."

Contact Emilie Rusch at 394-8453 or emilie.rusch@rapidcityjournal.com