No.159

The Bamboo Shoots
A local newsletter quarterly issued
Yamato Takada Lismore Sister City Association, Nara, Japan
Spring Issue, 2013

Contact :Takada Sister City Association

TEL: 0745-22-1101
http://www.city.
yamatotakada.nara.jp/

We do hope The Bamboo Shoots born out of the soil of Yamato-Takada will grow up and act as a go-between for the citizens in Lismore and in Yamato-Takada.

Welcoming 50th Sister City Anniversary,
Friendly Football Game in Lismore

They took a bus tour to Byron Bay at the end of theeastern part of Australia and looked around thelighthouse there. At Calanbin Wild Park they enjoyedfeeding kangaroo, cuddling koalas in their arms andseeing bird and snake shows. They had great fun at ahotel and a restaurant communicating with local people
in native English. At a restaurant in Ashmore some ofthem tried to eat 600g steak, but none of them could
eat it up.

Yamato Takada Football Association made up a newsoccer team, the players of which were selected fromamong the first year students at junior high school.
After visiting the Lismore City Council, they played afriendly soccer game with a club team in Lismore, themembers of which were in the same generation, andmixed well with local people there.
The players of Diablossa Takada FC belonging toTakada Football Association and the 20 players selectedfrom the members of Takada West Junior High School
Soccer Club stayed in Lismore for 7 days from March
22nd to 28th, as an exchange project tour, and they
played soccer with Goonellabah Soccer Team as a joint
practice and friendly games as well on March 23 and 24.
Takada players were able to have a tiptop experience
playing on a wide and fine field with green grass.
At BBQ party Takada players enjoyed eating genuine
Aussie beef at the club house in Goonellabah. They also
enjoyed sea swimming and shopping with their host family.
They paid a courtesy visit to Lismore City Council tomeet mayor Jonny Dowell. They also visited The Japan
Center in Southern Cross University and there they
met many local citizens, learning real friendship andmutual understanding among them.

What Takada players learned through theirexperiences in Lismore this time were as follows:● They were prepossessed by local people’s gentle
manners and learned a lot about their culture.
● When they were in trouble they felt another sort ofkindness in local citizens different from that of Japanese.
● Their host families were all kind enough to explain
everything easily.
● They felt very happy to be able to play soccer withlocal players who were very considerate of Takada
players.
● They were quite happy to have been able to makethemselves understood in English though they wereworrying about it very much.
● They had a strong hope of putting their experiences
this time to good account in future.
Cherishing a variety of precious memories in Lismore
they started a homeward journey.
Immediately after returning to Takada, the players,
along with the brains of the group, visited Takada City
Hall and met Mayor Yoshida to report that they had
made good use of their life in Lismore. Mr. Yoshida said
with high expectation that he wanted them to become
main players of Takada soccer team at the time of the60 th and 70 th Anniversary when they could havefriendly soccer games between the two cities.
It is said that some of the players keep in touch with
Lismore players by e-mail or in Facebook and continue
their own exchanges among themselves. Some years
later when they are young adults, they will surely meetgrown-up Lismore players in soccer fields.

Birth of Young Drummers in Yamato Takada, around the corner“Wa-daiko or Japanese drums” have been inherited
for a long time in Japan. At some festivals held here inYamato Takada a wa-daiko is settled on the ‘danjiri or
float’ and drummers beat the wa-daiko rhythmically.
Yamato Takada citizens had been unable to pleasantly
practice up on the wa-daiko. However, to their great joy,
‘Doyo-juku or a private class only for Saturdays,’ in which
parents and their children get together on Saturdays
and learn a lot from their own communities, was opened
and a wa-daiko club was to be launched in the Doyo-juku.

About 40 members of parents and children got together
in the wa-daiko lesson on the first practice day, June 16.
The lesson was done in a house called ‘Tokimeki-Takada,’
and it is at a corner of the multipurpose General Park Centre,
where members of Takada Sister City Association, includingmayor Yoshida, planted eucalyptus trees in memory offriendship between the two cities of Lismore and Takada.
Also, farmers around the Park Centre come and sell
fresh vegetables twice a week at Tokimeki-Takada.
A wa-daiko is very expensive and the parents cannot afford
to buy it, so children practice it with a ‘tyre-drum,’ whichmeans a drum an old tyre stuck on it with tapes for packing.
An organizer said, “We hope that children willappear at some festivals as young drummers.”

What we would like to do in Lismore
The following 6 students were selected to be theexchange students delegated this year by Takada city.
The 6 senior high school students are going to visit
Lismore, Australia, for 15 days from July 26 throughAugust 9, being accompanied by Mr. Ogawa, anEnglish teacher at Katashio junior high school.
【Mr. Kazuto Ogawa, English teacher 】
I want to know how the natives live there
through the communication between themand us. Using English, I will do my best tocommunicate with the natives. I also wantto let the students from Japan make a wonderful memory,and enjoy a lot.
【Mr. Takumi Isoo】
I’d like to experience the culture of Australia
different from that of Japan through getting
on with Lismore residents positively. I want
to be a teacher in the coming future¸sowhen my dream comes true, I intend to make use of myhomestay this time in Lismore.
【Ms. Yuka Naka】
I think Japan is a wonderful country inmany ways. The four seasons in Japan are nice.
Since I like spring and autumn, I’d like toshow people in Lismore how to do origami
and explain them about some flowers and Japanese eventsin these seasons. On top of that I want to learn practicalEnglish and how we should show consideration for eachother with an expressive smile..

Bottlebrush Tree in Full Bloom

Last September the bottlebrushtrees were planted at a corner of
the Yamato Takada Multipurpose
General Park Center in honor of
the 50th Anniversary of Sister Cities
Friendship between the great citiesof Lismore and Takada. Now the trees are covered with

【Ms. Saho Nakashima】
In Lismore I’d like to learn various kinds ofdifferences between Japanese culture andAustralian culture. I want to tell local people
in Lismore about some Japanese traditional
culture, for example, about historical tea ceremony
through recent comic books and animated cartoons. I intend
to tell many people about wonderful Japanese culture.
【Ms. Mayu Fukui】
By learning the life and culture of Lismore
and also through communicating with as many
Lismore citizens as possible, I’d like to establish
friendly relations between Yamato Takada
and Lismore. In addition I want to tell them about Japanesetraditional culture, for example, about Japanese calligraphy
and aikido or a Japanese art of self-defense practice.
【Ms. Risa Morita】
I do want to learn to speak natural Englishin Lismore. I want to sound natural a little
more when I speak English. I’d like to tellLismore citizens what a wonderful country
Japan is. I also want to talk to as many people aspossible in English and by doing that I want to getalong with them and understand one another.
【Ms. Chinatsu Yoshikawa】
Since the 50th Anniversary of Sister Cities
Relationships between Takada and Lismore
falls in August this year, we’ll be able to knoweach other more deeply. We’ d like to get intouch with each other’s history and invisible culture as
much as possible at this good opportunity.
a lot of beautiful flowers, just in full bloom. The trees
have taken root deep and firmly and grown up tall.
“Lismore Garden” has completely become a relaxation
place and spiritual home
for Takada citizens.