Arigatougozaimashita.

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

No.160
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.

Congratulations on 50 Years ofSister City Relationship, Lismore & Takada！
Lismore-Takada Sister City Relationship 50 t h
Anniversary was held solemnly and peacefully as wellat the refurbished Lismore City Hall on 7 August, 2013.
50 years have passed this year since the first Sister City
Relation between Japan and Australia and also Lismore
and Yamato Takada began at the same time.

In the ceremony Father Glynn, who took an active
part in the big project connecting the two countries andthe cities, made a wonderful speech and after that
Mayor Yoshida and Mayor Jenny Dowell as welladdressed a large audience there, all of whom weremoved by their speeches.

Mayor Yoshida’s speech

Mayor Jenny Dowell’s speech

I would like to make my speech to represent
70 thousand of Yamato Takada citizens. I amvery pleased to be here tonight for the truly
special occasion, the Lismore Yamato Takada Sister
Cities 50th Anniversary ceremony.
First of all, I would like take this opportunity toexpress my deepest and most sincere gratitude to theAustralian government and its people for providing
tremendous support to our country, which sufferedbadly from the Great East Japan Earthquake two years
ago on the 11th of March, 2011.
Only a week after the earthquake had struck, the peopleof Lismore began raising relief funds to aid victims. I
thank you for this, Mayor Dowell and people in Lismore.
Also in Lismore at 2012, when the exchange students
from Yamato Takada have visited here, Lismore city helda memorial service and Father Glynn have attended forwhom have lost their lives at the earthquake on the 11thof March, 2011. We deeply thank you from our heart
for your thought.
I have come to Lismore with 50 of Yamato Takada citizen.
I am very delighted that I could be here tonight at thismoment with you. I would like to thank you for invitingus, and your sincere thought.
Since the sister city agreement, we have had visiting
Lismore and Yamato Takada for cultural exchange
throughout sports and music. Through our student
exchange program, which began in 1985, more than 300
students have stayed with families in each other’s country,
experiencing first hand, differences in culture and waysof living. I truly believe that these exchanges are
precious and meaningful opportunities for people tolearn to understand each other, and to deepen andspread their bonds of friendship.
Lismore and Yamato Takada will grow together in various
fields includes welfare, education, and environmental
project through the exchange of our sister city project.
As the sister city agreement, I cannot stop myself
wishing that this deepen and tight bond will expand in(partly omitted)
the future.

Earlier today we gathered to celebratea bond of friendship that connects two cities
for ever. Mayor Clyde Campbell of Lismore
and Mayor Senzo Nagura of Yamato Takada signed aFriendship agreement that developed through theinitiative of Father Paul Glynn.
In part, the words of that Sister City Friendshipsigned on this day in 1963 read:‘The horizons of this contract, this friendship are notjust the two cities but the Motherlands Australia andJapan. More, it is our firm belief that our efforts willcontribute to the peace of the whole world’
Across the decades, there have been regular exchangesof letters, gifts and visits. We have helped each other inchallenging times and established close bonds thathave stood the test of time.
Lismore, like Yamato Takada, is a different place thanit was 50 years ago. So there are many changes, but onething remains constant-the value we place on ourrelationship. An important part of that relationship’s
constancy has been the annual student exchanges thatoperate between our secondary schools. I thank Colleenand Ric Virtue for their organization of those visits overmany years on behalf of Lismore council.
On Monday in Sydney, CLAIR hosted a forum inrecognition of our 50th anniversary. This morning we
unveiled a plaque at a Japanese maple tree at City Hall.
Tonight we celebrate and re-commit to the continuationof the Lismore Yamato Takada 50 year Sister City relationship.
Mayor Masakatsu Yoshida and citizens of Yamato Takada,
your presence shows your willingness to further cement
our Friendship. I assure you that Lismore shares yourcommitment. I look forward
to an opportunity when I andsome Lismore citizens might
visit your city to demonstrate
to your community that ourresolve to maintaining thisspecial Friendship is also(partly omitted)
strong.

YAMATO TAKADA DAY in LISMORE

The big event ‘YAMATO TAKADA DAY’ took place inGoonellabah Centre on the morning of 8 August inorder to get Lismore citizens to know more about
Japanese culture and Yamato Takada City. About
500 kindergarteners and school children andsome 100 citizens visited the centre and enjoyed theevent. They experienced Japanese culture and games,such as ‘goldfish scooping,’ ‘playing with yo-yo andsuper-balls,’ ‘trying-on kimono,’ ‘Japanese dancing,’‘tea ceremony,’ flower arrangement,’ ‘practising
calligraphy,’ ‘origami or paper folding,’ ‘how to celebrate
the Star Festival, ’kite flying,’ ‘flying carp-shaped
streamer,’ and so on. The exchange students fromTakada played a drama ‘Momotaro’ in English. Happily,
the hall swarmed with a lot of children and Lismore
people.

On the walls of the hall were displayed a lot of works
from elementary schools in Takada, such as various
pictures and paintings, especially introducing Japaneseculture, and a variety of Japanese mural decorations
painted by kindergarteners.
Children of each school in Lismore came to the hall bybus one after another and there was a long line ofchildren at the entrance of the hall. They very muchenjoyed knowing the Japanese culture by doing somegames and touching Japanese works. They participatedin the event as a part of school curriculums.
Mayor Jenny Dowell wore a kimono and dressed withgreat chic. The officers of Lismore City Council werevery cooperative in the event, which brought asignificant result in terms of the exchange project
between the two cities in its true sense of the word.

playing with yo-yo

paper-folding・flying-kiteexperiencing Japanese culture“YAMATO TAKADA DAY” makes a great coup
President of Sister City Association

My main concern was whether or not the event of“Yamato Takada Day” on 8 of August was able to bear
fruit, because it was one of the biggest events in the 50th
Anniversary of Sister Cities Relation between Yamato
Takada and Lismore, Australia.
The direct reason why the event could be successful
depended on the careful plans made by Takada city
officials who prepared for the event, arranging various
tools, devices and so on. I believe that these efforts inadvance made Australian children understand theJapanese culture and things Japanese.
I would like to express my deepest thanks to Lismore
City Staff concerned, who took care of the children
coming to the hall and arranged the hall for Takada
City Day and also readily help us out in preparing somematerials and tools used for the event. Besides, I mustsay “thank you very much” from the bottom of my heart

Seiichiro Murashima

to Mayor Jenny Dowell, who waswilling to wear a kimono which wepresented, manager Rino Santin, also readily help us
out in preparing some materials and tools used for theevent. Sue Wade, secretary to Mayor, who always kept
in touch with us in many ways. In addition, Ms. Tazuko
McLaren showed us here and there at Japan Center inSouthern Cross University. I really appreciate it.
The snacks, especially the biscuits served at the end ofluncheon in Rocky Creek as well were very good.
It is certain that Lismore citizens gave us a hearty
welcome and reception and that the cultural exchange
full of sincerity between the two cities deepened thereal friendship between each other.
I am absolutely sure that the 50 th Anniversary
resulted in a great success and again I would like toexpress my deepest thanks to all the people concerned.

Takada Exchange Students to Lismore in Excitement
6 high school exchange students stayed in Lismore for
15 days from 26 July to 9 August with an English teacher
as an attendant. They had a significant experience inLismore, though this was their first homestay there.
Under considerable tension they tried to communicate
with their family and local residents. Since this was aspecial year of the 50th Anniversary of Sister Cities
between Lismore and Takada, they had a wonderful
opportunity of participating in some events in Lismore,so that they could learn a lot about the history of boththese cities, too.

What they felt and thought about Lismore are asfollows.

1. About the city of Lismore

・The streets were wide and the whole city was verycool. I felt as if I were seeing the movies.
・There were almost no traffic signals inthe city. Cars were running smoothly
at the roundabouts.
・We found many stores in downtown.
On the contrary there were almost no street lamps
on the outskirts of the city, so it was pretty dark.
・We saw various kinds of colorful birds inside thecity, but we couldn’t see pigeons and crows there.

2. About good places and impressive sights

・We had a wonderful time at the schools we visited
twice for two days. The students of each school had aJapanese lesson.
・We were very much impressed with the falls and thebeach where my host family took me. Wherever wewent, the countryside had a rich natural environment.
・We experienced what we call ‘negative ion’ inKillen Falls.
・We were happy to see the beautiful horizontal line of
the sea with the snow-white lighthouse against
the deep blue sky and sea in Byron Bay.
・We saw whales and dolphins swimming in the sea.

3. About different culture and manners andcustoms you were surprised at＊About everyday life

・They had no custom of soaking themselves in abathtub unlike Japanese, so I could not help
taking a shower with considerable spirit because
it was cold in the mornings and in the evenings.
・The most surprising thing for me was that they bit
an apple without peering it and also without
cutting it into pieces.（The apples were rather
small, though.）
・On the general streets the speed limit was 100km/h,
which was unbelievable for me, but the speed limit
inside the school zone was 40km/h, so that school
children could walk to school safely in the zone.
Drivers observed the traffic rules and regulations.
・Lismore still has a rich natural environment, soI felt that time passes slowly there.
・In Lismore they have a custom of having a morning tea.
At 11 a.m everyday Colleen served us handmade
cookies and cakes, which I enjoyed eating.
・I hear that when they caught cold, they would
rather work harder without taking a rest in bed inorder that they could have good blood runsmoothly in the blood vessels.
・A 600ml bottle of water was usually 3 Australian
dollars (about 270 yen), which was expensive, andI was not able to find and buy bottled water easily
everywhere without circumstance like in Japan.
＊About school life
・Students use PC in class and they are free to walkabout in class, eating cakes.
・They need not do the cleanings of their classrooms.
・They have no club activities after school and mostof the students go home soon after school by bus.
・Japanese lessons were very fresh and pleasant for me.
・They had agriculture classes. They were breeding
alpacas as well as hens and cattle.
・They had a morning teatime between the 2nd andthe 3rd period and later they had N0.1 and N0.2
lunch time to eat snacks.

5. What you felt about Sister City Relationship50th Anniversary you participated in・I was happy that I could visit Lismore in the year
when 50th Anniversary was held.
・I was all keyed up in the ceremony since I had
hardly participated in this kind of ceremony.
・I surely felt that the relationship between twocities would be getting firmer.
・As Lismore and Takada have been on friendlyterms with each other for 50 years as Sister Cities,
so I thought that we, Takada citizens, should be
more familiar with people of other countries.
・As the speech of mayor of Yamato Takada said that
Takada citizens would never fail to participate in100th Anniversary, I felt that the hope would besurely realised.

4. About your impression on homestay

you still kept in mind

・Husband and wife loved each other and they always
talked pleasantly hand in hand. They ate meals
communicating merrily. I strongly wanted to live a
happy life like them in future.
・Time passed before I knew. We had a happy time
doing origami, looking at the photos of my hostfamily and listening to their talk about their job.
・My host family warmly welcomed me to their home.
They were very kind to me. I was very happy tohave lived with my host family and I will neverforget their kindness.
・When I had a small talk with my host family
without using my e-dictionary, my host father
praised me on my English, saying, “You can speak
English well.” I am happy to hear that.
・All of my host family were interested in things
Japanese, which made me feel happy.
・My host family had a wide circle of their relatives,
so some of them often came to see my host family.
The girl of my host family, who had visited Japan
before, and I read some manga books aloud withher. We were of an age. At night we enjoyed BBQ
and after that we sometimes swam in the pool.
・I was always thinking to myself why my host family
were so kind to a Japanese like me, who was acomplete stranger to them. When the time camethat I had to say good-bye, they told me that they
were looking forward to seeing me soon, and thatthey were waiting for me to come back. ThenI missed them very much. My eyes were watery.

6. How do you put your experience this time togood account in days to come?

・I want to be an elementary school teacher and I willtell my students my experiences in Lismore, so thatthey can show interest in a homestay in Lismore.
・I would like to get on with foreign people positivelyand I’ll try to live my life significantly in order to
get them to know how wonderful a country Japan is.
・I want to study English much harder in university,
because I have a strong will to stay and studyin Australia.
・I’d like to know much more about our country Japanand I want to tell foreigners more accurately about
Japan and Japanese people.
・I have come to understand the true meaning of thewords of “It is essential to think about others fromdifferent points of view.”
・I could understand the pleasure of sharing thedifferent culture with each other.
・The kindness shown unconsciously by many people
moved me very much, so I want to be such a kindof person as they are. I hope that I will visit myhost family in Lismore again holding up my headafter I become a fluent speaker of English.

50th Anniversary in Lismore

On 7 August a dinner party for the 50th Anniversary ofLismore and Yamato Takada Sister City Relationshipwas held at Invercauld House. At the party both of themayors exchanged the Sister City Agreement just tomake sure and by confirming it they signed
Re-Confirmation Agreement, which says that the twocities continue keeping bonds of their relationshipanother 50 years or more, that is, forever.
The mayors respectively exchanged a memorial gift,and mayor Yoshida gave a testimonial and a gift toFather Glynn and also to Colleen, who has beenexerting herself for the exchange student project
between the two cities.

Japan-Australia Sister Cities 50th Anniversary Forum
Firstly, prior to the ceremony in Lismore, on 5 August
Japan and Australia Sister Cities 50th Anniversary
Forum was held on a grand scale at the Westin Hotel in
Sydney, mainly hosted by Japan Local Government
Centre (CLAIR Sidney). Approximately 150 people
participated in the Forum, including Council-Generalof Japan in Sydney, the people concerned inJapan-Australia Sister City Relation and the Takada
citizens concerned in Sister City Relation between
Lismore, NSW, and Takada, Nara Prefecture.

A Letter of Thanks from Goonellabah Public School
The letter was kindly sent to Mr. Yoshida, mayor ofTakada city, from the principal of the school above.
The students and staff of the school participated in‘Yamato Takada Day’ held on 8 August.
To: Mayor Masakatsu Yoshida and theYamato Takada ContingentThe students and staff of our school
Appreciated the opportunity to be involved in theYamato Takada Cultural Day celebration
Onth
8 August,2013,at Lismore City council.
It was a wonderful opportunity for our students tolearn about your culture.
Mark Spencer, Principal