NEWSLETTER
Issue 172 – October 2023

Welcome to Shibetsu City
Shibetsu City, which is located inland in northern Hokkaido, is a rural cityrich in nature, with mountains such as Mount Teshio, a prefectural naturalpark, and the headwaters of the Teshio River, the second longest river inHokkaido.

C O N T E N T S★Discover JAPAN - Welcome toShibetsu City
★News from CLAIR Sydney- School Exchange Opportunities★CLAIR Sydney September Activity

Shibetsu City has a population of approximately 17,000 and an area ofReports

approximately 1,119 square kilometres, of which approximately 75% is- Matsuri Brisbane 2023 (2Sep2023)

mountain forest.

- Matsuri Japan Festival in
Chatswood 2023 (9Sep 2023)- South West Japan Festival(9Sep2023)- Outbound Student farewelled byCampbelltown (13Sep2023)- Supporting Nagoya City for Sydney
Marathon(17Sep2023)- Sakura Matsuri in Cowra(23Sep2023)- Japan & Friends Day in Queensland(23Sep2023)★From the Executive Director

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The city has a well-developed transportation network and is accessible to Sapporo, the central city of Hokkaido, inabout 2.5 hours by car or 2 hours by train.
Shibetsu City has an inland climate with four distinct seasons, and is a heavily snow-covered and cold region withsnowfall which starts around mid-November and can reach over 1 metre on the planes and 2 metres on themountainous areas.
People can enjoy a variety of activities because there are campgrounds and ski resorts that take advantage of thenatural surroundings, and various sporting events, such as the Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon.

Blessed with abundant nature, Shibetsu City has developed agriculture and forestry as its core industries.
Shibetsu City produces a wide range of agricultural products, including rice, wheat, buckwheat, potatoes, beans, sugar
beets, onions, pumpkins, broccoli, as well as livestock such as dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs, and chickens.
As a sheep town, the city has been promoting town development with "Suffolk sheep" at its core, and is gaining
recognition as a high-grade food product.
Restaurants in the city offer a variety of gourmet dishes using local ingredients, including Genghis Khan (Japanesegrilled lamb) with Shibetsu Suffolk Lamb.

Through the common industry of sheep, Shibetsu City and Goulburn in New South Wales, Australia (now GoulburnMulwaree) formed a sister city affiliation in 1999, and have continued to engage in mutual exchanges such as sending
and receiving official delegations and mutual student exchanges.
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Construction of the Shibetsu Garden has begun in Goulburn Mulwaree to commemorate the 20th anniversary of thesister city affiliation in 2019.
In conjunction with the visit of the Shibetsu City delegation in 2019, garden stones and garden lanterns for the Shibetsu
Garden were sent to Goulburn Mulwaree and the garden is still under construction.
For the mutual student exchanges, high school student visits has started since 2002. Due to COVID-19, exchanges had
been suspended since 2020, but they were finally able to resume it this July.
Five high school students visited Goulburn Mulwaree and had valuable experiences through homestays and classes at
a local high school.
Shibetsu City values the exchange with Goulburn Mulwaree and hopes to further deepen it in the future.
The two cities will continue to build on the friendship that has developed over the years.

News from CLAIR Sydney
School Exchange Opportunities
To support cultural exchange between schools in Japan and Australia/NewZealand, CLAIR Sydney has a dedicated page on our website that lists schools inJapan that are interested in initiating cultural exchange with schools inAustralia/New Zealand.
Please click on the link or scan the QR code below for more information on therespective schools.
Should you be interested in a particular school, please get in touch with them!
http://www.jlgc.org.au/international-exchange-2/sister-schoolexchange/australia-%E3%83%BBnew-zealand/Page 3

CLAIR Sydney September Activity ReportMatsuri Brisbane 2023 in Queensland (2 Sep 2023)
On Saturday, 2 September, Matsuri Brisbane 2023 was held in the City of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.
The venue was bustling with approximately 70 stalls and booths, attracting over 10,000 attendees.
CLAIR Sydney ran a booth at this event, promoting various regions of Japan through the distribution of tourism
brochures and materials provided in advance by Japanese local governments which have friendly ties with local
governments in Queensland.
Several local Japanese residents who visited the booth expressed, "I didn't know that there was a sister cityfrom my hometown prefecture within Queensland," their surprised reactions to the unexpected aspect of theirhometown prefecture were quite impressive.
In addition, we had the opportunity to interact with numerous local people who were enthusiastic about
gathering information, and they mentioned, "I had only decided to travel to Japan, and I was planning to think
about specific destinations later." This experience helped us realise the importance of face-to-facecommunication.
We will continue to spread information while cooperating with Japanese local governments, supporting those
who have an interest in Japan, and ensuring that their visits to Japan become even more meaningful.
We brought over 1,000 brochures this time, and they were all popular that we ran out completely’.

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South West Japan Festival (9 Sep 2023)
On the 9 September, South West Japan Festival was held in Bunbury, Western Australia. The event was first heldin 2018 to celebrate the sister city relationship between Bunbury and Setagaya, Tokyo, and is considered one of
the largest Japan-related events in south Perth. With many visitors, there were stalls selling Japan-related goods
and snacks, as well as a bonsai exhibition at the venue.
The CLAIR Sydney staff members promoted Japan’s various destinations by distributing tourism brochures andthrough giveaways, both provided in advance by Japanese local governments that have a sister city relation witha local council in Western Australia.
The event started with radio-taisou (a Japanese style warm-up stretch), followed by Japanese drum and sanshin
performances. It was impressive to see local people, themselves, spreading Japanese culture. In addition, a local
resident who visited our booth said, ``We have been hosting Japanese students as host families for many years,
and we still keep in touch with some of them.'' It was a valuable opportunity for us as CLAIR to experiencegrassroots exchange between Australia and Japan.
We will continue to promote Japan to people in Australia and support local exchanges.

Matsuri Japan Festival in Chatswood 2023 (9 Sep 2023)
On 9 September, Matsuri Japan Festival in Chatswood 2023, a cultural exchange festival between Australia andJapan, was held at Chatswood Mall.
At the venue, there were a total of 23 booths selling food such as rice balls and curry, and offering origami,flower arrangement, calligraphy, and tea ceremony experiences. The event was crowded with many visitors.
CLAIR Sydney ran a booth and conducted a survey regarding travel to Japan. Approximately 300 people visited
our booth. We were happy to receive a variety of questions from people who had specific travel plans such as
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“I'm planning my first trip to Japan and would like a pamphlet!” and “This is my second trip to Japan and I want
to go to a place I've never been before.”
We also asked people “My impression of Japan”, many people gave us delighted answers such as #Amazing#Friendly #Beautiful #Traditional.
We will continue to promote all of Japan in order to strengthen the ties between the people of Japan andAustralia and to increase the number of people who are interested in Japan.

Outbound Student Delegation farewelled by Campbelltown Council
at a mayoral reception (13 Sep 2023)
On 13 September, 15 students were honoured to be farewelled by Campbelltown Council at a mayoral
reception. They will visit their sister city, Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The student group presented various
performances including songs, dances, and plays.
In July of this year, 15 junior high school students from Koshigaya City visited Campbelltown. The two cities,
which established their sister city relationship in 1984, are approaching their 40th anniversary next year.
They were visibly delighted to resume
mutual visits after a four-year hiatus due tothe COVID-19 pandemic.
CLAIR Sydney will continue to support sistercity exchange by local governments.
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Sister City Exchange through Sports, Supporting Nagoya City Marathon Runners (17 Sep2023)
Nagoya City and Sydney City are sister cities, and in sports the Nagoya City Marathon and the Sydney Marathon
are sister marathon events. From 2012, winning runners from each of the two marathons are mutually to run in
the sister marathon 8 times by 2019. Due to COVID-19, the exchange had stopped temporarily, however thisyear, the 9th exchange was achieved for the first time in 4 years.
On 17 September, two runners selected from the Nagoya City Marathon ran at the Sydney Marathon. They
respectively participated in the 10km and half marathon, and the next day, the two runners paid a courtesy callat Sydney Town Hall. CLAIR Sydney supported the runners on the day of the marathon, accompanied them tothe courtesy call at Sydney Town Hall and supported them for various adjustments.
CLAIR Sydney will continue to support sister city exchange by local governments.

Sakura Matsuri in Cowra (23 Sep 2023)
On 23 September, Sakura Matsuri was held at the Cowra Japanese Garden. Many visitors were attracted to theevent by the many Japanese cultural and food booths and stage events such as sumo, shakuhachi (Japanesebamboo flute) and kyudo (Japanese archery).
CLAIR Sydney promoted cherry blossom spots in various parts of Japan, including Joetsu City in Niigata
Prefecture, which has a Peace and Friendship Agreement with Cowra. Some visitors asked us specific questions,such as "I will be traveling to multiple prefectures in late March, when and where should I stay to see thebeautiful cherry blossoms?"

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The day after the Sakura Matsuri, we participated in Service of Respect at the Cowra War Cemeteries.
We will continue to strive to promote friendly exchanges between the cities wishing for peace and tostrengthen the ties between Japan and Australia.

Japan & Friends Day 2023 in Queensland (23 Sep 2023)
On Saturday, 23 September, Japan and Friends Day 2023 was held in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland.
This event is a Japan-themed event that has been running for over 20 years, with the purpose of interacting andbuilding friendships with the local community.
CLAIR Sydney ran a booth at this event for the first time, and in line with the event's objective of "making theevent serve as a showcase for Japan," we promoted various regions of Japan through the distribution of tourism
brochures and materials.
The venue was bustling with approximately 6,000 attendees, and many people visited our booth as well.
For Japanese people, the Gold Coast is one of the easiest places to visit in Australia, and many of the locals whovisited our booth expressed to be fans of Japan, allowing us to experience the mutual connection between theGold Coast and Japan.
Among the visitors, there were those who expressed their happiness and appreciation for our booth, saying, "We
are delighted that you brought tourism information from various parts of Japan to the Gold Coast."
We will continue to promote Japan in various places so that local fans of Japan will fall in love with Japan evenmore and also so that we can increase the number of new fans of Japan.

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From the Executive Director
Sister Cities Australia 2023 National Conference
On 12 October, the Sister Cities Australia 2023 National Conference was held in Wyndham, Victoria. Over 100
representatives from Australian local governments, sister city committees, and relevant organisations participated inthis conference. This year’s theme was ‘Linking the World Together’, which I thought was timely, as it was the first faceto-face conference in four years after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the conference, topics such as examples ofoutstanding sister city exchanges, engagement of the younger generation, and the benefits of sister city exchanges
were shared. We believed these topics were very interesting. We would like to express our respect for the efforts of all
the SCA executives and everyone involved.
CLAIR Sydney promoted sister city relationships between Japan and Australia, and our Japanese local government
support activities at the information table. We also exchanged opinions with the participants. The question that left an
impression on me was, "Please tell us about good examples of sister city exchanges." I think people are trying to lookfor new methods of exchanges after COVID-19.
As you may know, according to a survey we did in 2021, when compared to other sister city relationships around theworld, there was a much larger percentage of student exchange through sister city activities between Australia andJapan. Since this year, more face-to-face educational exchange programs have resumed, such as mutual student visits
between sister cities. My personal opinion is that one way of future exchanges is to cooperate in dealing withadministrative challenges. For example, as I reported at last newsletter, Osaka City does initiatives of city development
based on sister city exchanges.
We believe that exchanges between local governments will become more active in the future, so we would like tounderstand and share examples of sister city exchanges.

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