N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff’s Japan visit
By Kimberley Wu, Adviser Global Partnerships and Strategy, Auckland Council
At the invitation by Mayor Soichiro Takashima of
Fukuoka City, a sister city of Auckland, Mayor Phil Goff
visited Japan from 29 July to 3 August and spoke at the12th Asian-Pacific Cities Summit (APCS): Sustainable
Cities and Communities.
It was a first reciprocal visit to Japan by the Mayor of
Auckland since amalgamation. His programme in Tokyoand Fukuoka was well supported by the New ZealandEmbassy in Tokyo and Fukuoka City.
Although there wasn’t a formal
mayoral delegation, the Chairmanof the Independent Māori
Statutory Board, David Taipari,
the Tāmaki Makaurau Regional
Manager of Te Puni Kōkiri, Marty
Rogers, the Chief Executive ofAuckland Tourism, Events andEconomic Development, Nick
Hill, and President of Sister Cities
New Zealand, Hiromi Morris,
were also in Japan to further
strengthen bilateral linkages.
In Tokyo, the Mayor had aseries of meetings with large
Japanese corporations interested in investing in housing,hotel construction and public transport infrastructure in
Auckland and relevant site visits. The Mayor also spokeat an official reception hosted by Ambassador Stephen
Payton at the Embassy, attended by 110 corporate and civic
visitors, to promote investment, tourism and international
education in NZ and specifically Auckland.

Mayor Phil Goff and Mr Takeshi Hamano (second left), joined by Mr
Shinji Tamura Managing Director of Shinagawa-ku International
Friendship Association, and Ms Cath Knell, Principal of Lynfield College,celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Friendship City agreement.

In Shinagawa, a Special Ward of Tokyo, Mayor Goff andMayor Takeshi Hamano signed a communique celebrating
the 25th Anniversary of the Friendship City relationship.
At the APCS in Fukuoka, the Mayor was a speaker andpanelist to contribute to and learn from the Summit
attended by 37 cities from 18 countries, in particular in
relation to dealing with the challenges of rapid urbanisation.
During his bilateral meeting with Mayor Takashima, theMayor presented the 2018 Sister Cities New Zealand Awards
Certificates for the Fukuoka
Garden project in recognition of
the joint efforts in establishing
the new garden.
The Mayor also took theopportunities
tobuild
relationships with leaders fromother Asia-Pacific cities, having
bilateral meetings with the Mayorof Guangzhou and the Vice Mayorof Busan (both are Auckland’s
partner cities) and the Mayor of
Oita (the city in Kyushu which
next year is the home host city at
the Rugby World Cup for the All
Blacks), the Mayors of Vladivostok and Kathmandu and the
Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities in Singapore.
The Mayor has reported that the full and useful programme
in Japan was a valuable opportunity to connect with hiscounterparts in Japan and to promote Auckland and seekout potential investment for Auckland’s infrastructure,
housing and visitor and student economy.

A model of the Shibuya Station during a site visit facilitated by Tokyu
Corporation in Tokyo. New Zealand Ambassador to Japan, HE Stephen
Payton (centre), and Mr Nick Hill (first left), Chief Executive, Auckland
Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) also attended.

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Edgecumbe Drummers on a Roll
Matt Bryson, Whakatane District Sister Cities Association
My journey started about 10 years ago as a JET
programme recipient, when one day I was sitting
around a table with Konoura Kagura members and aflute was passed around the table for me to have a try.
I made the perfect sound which was the key to kickstarting this journey for me. I love everything about
Japan and saw an opportunity to share my passion for
Konoura Kagura and taiko drumming with some of thestudents in my Japanese class at Edgecumbe College.
In July the dream came true – I took four young men
to Japan – they were Taupara Bignell-Koroheke, Daniel
Renata, Arapeta Rimene and Penetito Murray-Rimene.
We spent the first week staying in Kenji Furutate’s homein Tokyo where he acted as the perfect host and showed
us the sites of the magnificent city. We also visited
Kamagaya our Sister City where they had a full day ofactivities planned for us including drumming sessions
and Kendo.
From Tokyo we gave the boys the opportunity toexperience the Bullet Train and sped to Kyoto which was
experiencing temperatures of up to 40 degrees - man it

was hot. From there we moved on to Okayama where I
lived for 10 months on a high school exchange. Kiyoko
Maeda organised host families for us to stay with andhad been with us on this journey from the beginning.
Next we went to Hiroshima to see the Atomic DomeMuseum and Miyajima Island, then headed back up to
Konoura in Nikaho City, Akita prefecture, which is thebirthplace of Konoura Kagura.
Konoura Kagura is a tradition of 200+ years and thiswas the first time that a group of foreigners performed
Konoura Kagura back to the community. The experience
was truly humbling and overwhelming with many tearsof joy in the audience.
Konoura Kagura Members also ran a workshop for our
Kagutai group to provide an opportunity to learn more
about the Kagura style, to experience the true Japaneseculture and hospitality by staying with five different
Japanese families. My heartfelt thanks goes to everyone
who embraced us while in Japan and for allowing the
Edgecumbe Kagutai group into their lives and making
the trip such a memorable one for all.

Above: Drumming Group and Kanoura Kagura Members
Below: Kendo at Kamagaya

Above: Miyajima Island

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Whanganui’s two sister cities – Toowoomba,
Australia and Nagaizumi-cho, Japan
By Marianne Cavanagh, Whanganui District Council Principal Advisor – Corporate andInternational Relations
It is shaping up to be a year of reinforcing already-richties between Whanganui and its two sister cities –Toowoomba in Australia and Nagaizumi-cho in Japan.
As you read this, a seven-strong Whanganui District
Council delegation, joined by an additional 11 members of
the Whanganui community, will have winged their way toJapan to celebrate 30 years of social, cultural, sporting andeducational links with Nagaizumi-cho.

Nagaizumi students was hosted in Whanganui by
Rutherford Intermediate School. The students attended
class, visited marae, experienced a hangi and also visited
tourist attractions.
The visit to Japan, from 2-7 August, included the official
celebration, town tours and meetings with Nagaizumi
officials and coincided with Nagaizumi’s annual Waku
Waku Festival.

The relationship with Nagaizumi-cho is very special, says
Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall.

The sister city relationship with Toowoomba was forged
37 years ago.

“And in this year alone, there have been more than threevisits between the Council and Toowoomba Regional
Council representatives – some here, some in Toowoomba– and relationships couldn’t be better,” Mayor McDouall
says.

“It’s an enduring relationship. We have much in common
and on their most recent visit here in June, they showedinterest in several initiatives including Study Whanganui,Safer Whanganui and our digital strategy, which led toWhanganui having Smart City status – as one of the first
New Zealand communities to roll-out ultra-fast broadband
throughout the city,” says Mayor McDouall.

Nagaizumi-cho in Shizuoka Prefecture was chosen asa sister city because of its demographic similarities toWhanganui, its rural nature and the opportunity formutual opportunities.
“Thissignificant
celebrationhasallowed us to bepositive ambassadors
for Whanganui, topromote our district
and to recognise therelationship’s cultural,
educational
andeconomic benefits andinvestment,”
Mayor
McDouall says.
Hehonoursandacknowledges
thecontribution of all
those
who
have
supportedtherelationship in the past
30 years, including
the late Tomonobu
Nakamura OBE, a Nagaizumi businessman and Rotarian,
who encouraged honey exports and funded manyexchanges over several years.
Each decade the relationship has been marked with an
official visit. A Whanganui delegation attended the 10th
anniversary celebrations in Nagaizumi in 1998 and a smallergroup visited Japan in 2008 to mark the 20th anniversary.
A 50-strong group from Nagaizumi is expected to attend
next February’s 30th anniversary of the New Zealand
Masters Games in Whanganui.
School parties from both cities have also regularly
participated in exchange visits. Last year a group of

The relationship has sparked the possibility of a joint
venture delivering
freight to South EastAsia.
“We are delighted
that we are keeping
in touch on a moreregular basis.”
Toowoomba Mayor
Paul Antonio, Chief
Executive
Officer
Brian
PidgeonandPrincipal(Commercial
Development)
Bill Sankey werein the country toattend Access NZ, agathering to discuss
opportunities
tolink food, energy,
resource, logistics
and tourism industries and spent a weekend in Whanganui.
Whanganui & Partners, which oversees the Council’s
economic development activity, organised a number ofpresentations for the Toowoomba visitors.
Other highlights included visiting NZ Glassworks, touring
behind the scenes at Sarjeant on the Quay, strollingthrough the Saturday market and looking at some ofWhanganui’s heritage buildings. They also enjoyed ascenic flight, provided by the Whanganui-based New
Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy andvisited several of Whanganui’s cycling parks.

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Continued from page 3... Whanganui & Partners generalmanager Philippa Ivory says, “It was wonderful to have thedelegation here. We can learn a lot from this sister city
about economic development and making the most ofopportunities. They also took a lot away about the work

The Whanganui delegation in Nagaizumi-cho ready for the
Waku Waku Festival. Image: Marianne Cavanagh

we’re doing here. The Whanganui weather didn’t let us
down and they were genuinely impressed with what they
saw and heard.”
Whanganui District Council is also exploring the possibilityof a sister city relationship with a Chinese city.

Nagaizumi-cho Mayor Osamu Ikeda and Whanganui Mayor
Hamish McDouall gives the thumbs-up to their sister city
relationship in Japan. Image: Marianne Cavanagh

Successful Tripartite Economic Alliance renewed fora further three years
By Pamela Jamieson, Global Partnerships and Strategy Advisor, Auckland Council
Auckland’s Sister City relationships with Guangzhou
and Los Angeles (LA) were leveraged to establish the
Tripartite Economic Alliance (Tripartite) in November
2014. Since then, Tripartite Summits have been held
annually on a rotational basis between Auckland,
Guangzhou and Los Angeles.
The Summits areintended to strengthen civic connections and alignfocus sectors between the three cities to increasebusiness, trade and investment flows, while also
fostering opportunities for cultural engagement.
At the November 2017 Tripartite Summit in Guangzhou,
the three partner cities signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding renewing the strategic alliance for afurther three years. Rather than hosting standalone
annual summits, each city agreed to align Tripartite
activities
withestablishedinternational events in theirrespective cities, on a rotational
basis.

enterprise, transport, health and education sectors.
It was facilitated by the Council’s Global Partnerships& Strategy team and Auckland Tourism, Events andEconomic Development (ATEED). Strong support wasreceived from the event hosts, the World Trade Centre
LA, as well as the Office of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, the
NZ Consulate in LA and NZTE.
The Tripartite programme in LA opened doors to someof LA’s key decision makers and facilitated connections
for all the participants. A key success has been a NZ$20m
investment for New Zealand’s HMI Technologies.
Meetings were held with LA’s Mayor Eric Garcetti; LA’s
Deputy Mayor of International Affairs, Ambassador
Nina Hachigian, and Guangzhou’s Executive Vice Mayor
CHEN Zhiying. All parties expressed their support for
the Tripartite relationshipand agreed the cooperation
between the three cities
was delivering results.

Los Angeles hosted this year’s
Tripartite activity and identified
the 22-25 May 2018 Select LA
Investment Summit (Select LA)
as the key trade/innovation
event that best supported tricity activity in 2018.

Deputy Mayor Cashmore
also
had
productive
discussions with officials
from the Port of LA, TraPac
Container Terminal, City of
LA Street Services and LA
Metro.

Auckland’s
DeputyMayor
Bill Cashmore led Auckland’s
Tripartite Business Delegation
to LA to attend Select LA.
The
delegation
included
representatives
fromthecreative,screen,socialThe LA visit demonstrated
Auckland’s
ongoing
political and economic
support for the Tripartite
and we have committed tohosting Tripartite-related

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Gisborne Mayoral Delegation to Mahina Tahiti
By Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon
Mahina, our city sister put on awesome exceptional
hospitality. It was a very spiritual visit as we visited manyscared sites of importance that connects us to Turanga,
Uawa, and the Tairawhiti.
Tupaia the Ariki of the time left with Cook from Matavai Point of Venus in 1769 and arrived in Turanga - Gisborne in1769 9th October. Hence through this whakapapa link weare sister cities.
Tavana (Mayor) Damas visited Gisborne in February 2018
and we have now made a return visit and cemented forever
our closer bond. We thank the Gisborne sister cities
committee for supporting the visit.
We had an unknown schedule of events with many surprises,
being met at 1.30am in the morning by Tavana Damas, hiswife and staff with leis of flowers. The weather was warmer
than the Gisborne winter. We were homestayed in a lovely
home overlooking Matavai. We were welcomed by the
Mahina council, councillors, staff and community withpresentation of leis of beautiful scents and colour.
This was my first visit to Mahina after about 15+ years as
a sister city. Amongst us was Victor Walker, Shanan Grayof Uawa who play a huge part in the kawa and tikanga protocols during our visit.
We visited Pt Venus, the departing place of Tupaea and
Cook. In the park is a large light house built in 1867. Thatnight we went to the Heiva i Tahiti in Pape'ete where
the best of Tahitian culture was displayed. Heiva is acompetition, similar to Matatini which has been going to1894 to ensure the Tahitian culture is not lost - Tahitians
speak Tahitian, French and some English. A group from
Taputapuatea told the story of how Ra'iatea was named.
My recollection of the story is that a prince and princess
got married, however after a short time, he had to go to
Tahiti, during her pregnancy, if they
has a son they were to name it Atea,
if a daughter the name was to be nui
Ra'iatea - so a daughter was born.
We visited a the Pito (centre) of
Tahiti - firstly a ceremonial ritualof bring seawater from Hikinui
to Te Iwi Rau o Tokomaru, wherepermission was granted by Matua
Apoa to Haururu the pito o Tahiti.
The marae are different to the ones
at home, all are a structure of a flat
rectangle of stone, no walls, with aceremonial area to place taonga, thepōwhiri of haramai and speeches,waiata are similar, with the tangata
whenua standing in the marae andmanuhiri outside standing in a row
at the front. A hakari with traditional
foods was enjoyed by all along withwaiata and the ukulele.
We flew to Taputapuatea, Opoa
the place of Tupaia, where were

hosted by Tavana Thomas - with Chinese roots of myparents, a very sacred ceremony was held with the Matuaof Ra'iatea who welcomed us and spoke about the historyof our connection to Aotearoa. This was the place of Pacificvaka gathering through the sea entrance of Awa Moa,
we placed tonga at the Marae, Te Aturangi Nepia Clamp
had carved a carving with E'reki and it sits there proudly
represented Tupaia connection to the Tairawhiti. You canfeel the mauri and wairua of this area, it connects Tupaia
to Tairawhiti, he was a handsome man and attracted a lotof female attention wherever he went as the story was told.
There were fierce battles in this area and family members
as well as the enemy were sacrificed. Mr. Victor Walker
parau (korero) whakapapa connected Tupaia to Uawa.
We were invited to have breakfast with the Tahitian
President Édouard Fritch and some of his ministers
and staff, this was a surprise honour that we had not
expected. We arrived at Parliament House at 7am, weremet personally by President Fritch at the entrance andescorted to have breakfast with him. We invited thePresident to Tairawhiti to celebrate with us in 2019, we
asked if Uawa Kapa can perform at the Heiva i Tahiti in2019 and his reply was "this is your home". As Tahiti and
New Zealand cooperate in a number of portfolios, the teamdiscussed educational opportunities for school exchanges.
He was very interested in Gisborne Wastewater treatment
plant as it was a natural system of low operating cost andno chemicals. After breakfast, to my surprise and honour
he presented to me a Tahitian Tokotoko. Wow, what ahonour - he taonga honore! The meeting cemented ourrelation further with Mahina as he now understands more
about the relationship with Tupaia and the Tairawhiti andwill further support Mahina. The President’s comment on
tourism was clear, he wants high value, high end tourism as

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

they know their environment cannot handle mass tourism
due to the sensitive nature of the environment

Most of their income comes from appropriations from
central government.

We visited Moorea, swam with stingrays and sharks,
such clear water hence the desire to have sustainable
environmental management. We had a ceremony on the
Vaka Faafaite which will sail to Tairawhiti in the month of
May 2019 to be joined by about 8 other Vaka. We sat in the
Kava ceremony and shared parau vaka, parau whakapapa.

About 100 Mahina people are coming to Gisborne andUawa in October 2019. President Fritch is keen to come.
Another group of 100 are following nga tapuwae oTupaia (journeys) soon after. School exchanges are beingorganised, Uawa is in the Heiva, a lot of good work has
been achieved. Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou katoa, mo to
manaki ki a matau, koutou Tavana Damas ko to kaunihera,
ko Mama Tirau, e kore matau e warewaretia - Piki mai
kake mai Mahina ki Tupaia i Te Tairawhiti. Mahina yourhospitality was awesome and we look forward to hosting
you here in Gisborne. Ka mau te wehi!

We were there at the time of the international Waka Ama
competitions and we saw Mareikura and Horouta compete.
Mareikura was hosted at a primary school in Mahina.
Mahina Council runs the primary schools, local police, fireservice and 300m of sea space from the shores of Mahina.

Arts and cultural exchange with Nelson’s sister
city, Yangjiang in Guangdong province.
By Gail Collingwood, Sister Cities Coordinator Nelson
The Nelson branch of the New
Zealand China Friendship
Society strongly believes
thatcreating
awareness,understanding and friendshipbetween the young people of
New Zealand and China is
an excellent way to further
the aims of NZCFS. To thisend they facilitated an artsand cultural exchange with
Nelson’s sister city, Yangjiang
in Guangdong province. Six
secondary school students
from Nelson accompanied by
two adults were hosted by
Liangyang Senior High Schoolin Yangjiang in April this year.
This was the first foreignexchange ever hosted by that
school.
The exchange was promoted
to the 5 local secondary
schools in Nelson/Richmondand students invited toapply. Six senior high school
students were selected fromapplications with priority
given to those with particular interests in the arts such asmusic, drama, dance or fine arts, with Mandarin language
a consideration. Adaptability, curiosity and strength ofcharacter were also into account, as well prior knowledgeof, or interest in Chinese culture. Most of selected students
had little understanding of China and were provided witha thorough orientation over the preceding 2 months. This
included preparing acts for the performance concert tobe held as part of the cultural exchange activities.
The group travelled to Yangjiang, Guangdong province,
China for 10 days in the April 2018 New Zealand school

holidays. Liangyang SeniorHigh School is a week-day
boarding school and thegroup was accommodated indormitories at the school onweek days. For the weekend
the group stayed in a hotel
on nearby Hailing Island to
facilitate visits to the Silk Road
Maritime Museum, markets,
fishing village and otherattractions.
A highly active and sharing
programme was followed.
This included visits to 5
English classes each witha focus topic for sharing –
differences between China
and NZ education, interactive
games, Yangjiang specialty
foods, traditional festivals,
ethniccultures.
Club
activities enjoyed were Tai
Chi, calligraphy, seal making,traditional
dance,
Lion
Dancing and street dancing
and making kites. Other
activities included visits to anancient fishing village, lacquerware museum (a Yangjiang
specialty), shopping mall and dinner at a teacher’s house.
These gave a wide and varied insight to Yangjiang life andeducation.
A particular highlight of the exchange was the Cultural
Performance by the Nelson and Liangyang students
to an audience of 500 students, staff, and Foreign
Affairs Bureau representatives. The concert included asignificant component of Maori culture including a mihi,
waiata and hongi that were extremely well received. The
Nelson group also learned and sang a song in Mandarin.

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Extracts from student feedback are below.
“It was well planned and organised so as to give us studentsenough independence to explore the culture, yet still enoughstructure to keep us engaged in activities. I enjoyed that thetrip allowed plenty of opportunities to interact with ourChinese peers.
The positive attention we were paid by the people of
Yangjiang surprised me most. As a foreigner, I expectedmost students to be apathetic towards us, or even avoid
us, because of how I have seen foreigners treated in New
Zealand. Much to the contrary, we were treated likecelebrities, with the utmost respect. I was very humbled
by the enthusiasm we were greeted by, and hope that New
Zealanders can learn from their example.
I enjoyed any activities where we were speaking, socialising,or otherwise interacting with the Yangjiang students.
These interactions gave me an insight into culture and life
in China, in a way that textbooks or museums never could.
We were so well prepared enough for this trip, that ourbiggest point of contention was which t-shirts we shouldwear. I think that the trust and respect given to us by Janeand Ian allowed preparation toproceed quickly and painlessly.
The fact that the exchange went
off without a hitch speaks forthe preparation and planningthat went on behind the scenes.
Thanks for the unforgettable
experience.”~“It was a lot of fun and I reallyenjoyed myself there. I was reallysurprised about the school days
the students there have, starting
early in the morning and going toschool until 10pm. My favourite
parts of the trip were the time
we spent on Hailing Island
and wandering around Zhapo
and also hanging out with thestudents at the school.”~“I was incredibly impressed by
the level of organisation fromJane and Ian as well as the school
itself. I always felt informed ofwhat was happening so I neverfelt unsure or uneasy about being in Yangjiang. The trip
exceeded my expectations because of the high quality of
hospitality we received as well as the experiences we hadthat I never would’ve had as an ordinary tourist, for example
being at the school or going to the teacher’s house. The
way the school welcomed us was surreal because I’d neverbeen surrounded by so many people who wanted to get toknow me. Overall the exchange was a once in a lifetime
experience that I wish more people could experience, I feelvery fortunate to have been selected.
Before arriving at the school I expected a few teachers fromthe school to greet us and I thought some students mightstare at us because we look different but I never expected
them to surround us and talk to us as much as they did.
We have lots of exchange students in Nelson so we don’t
think twice about them being in our schools but being overthere made me realise how diverse our schools are and how
uncommon it was for them to have international students.
As well as being at the school and getting to know thestudents, my favourite part of the trip was the weekend on
Hailing Island where we got to explore some of the older,less fancy parts of China. Although there was a lot of dried
fish, I loved walked around the streets and going over to thefishing bay to see where the locals spend their time because
I feel like this was the real China that we got to see. Anotherhighlight was KTV because I feel like that is something thatyou would only truly experience in an Asian country so I’m
glad we got to go. Other highlights include seeing Yangjiang
at night, taking part in the clubs at the school and seeing
the old Chinese village.
I feel like we had just the right amount of meetings before
the trip so we were prepared enough without it taking up
too much of our time (because we’re all busy people) Therewas good communication and we got to know each other a
bit before going on the trip whichmeant we could really bond while
we were away.
The exchange was an incredible
opportunity for us, as students,
to experience a taste of whatlife is like for the students islike in China. The trip exceeded
every expectation I had so I don’t
think there was much you could
improve on. I really hope there
will be future exchanges so more
students will be able to experience
what we did because it was truly
a once in a lifetime experience.”~
The exchange visit to Yangjiang
was eye opening and indeed, lifechanging for both the Nelson
students and the Liangyang
Senior High School students
who had previously only had
verylimitedopportunities
to mix with foreigners. The
sharing of personal and culturalexperienceshascreatedmutually positive impressions
and lasting friendships and contacts between theseyoung adults. These have been shared by the New
Zealand students with their peers, families, schools andthe wider public through presentations, local media andmost importantly, enthusiastically re-telling stories of
the trip.
Based on the success of the initial exchange to Yangjiang,
it is now proposed that a group of 10 students andteachers from Liangyang visit Nelson in March 2019. It isbelieved this will lead to a stronger sister city relationshipwith Yangjiang.

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Otaru Youth Delegation to Dunedin
By Yoshi Isoyama, Vice President, Dunedin-Otaru Sister City Society
A youth delegation from Otaru, Dunedin’s sister city inJapan, came to stay in Dunedin for five days from the
2nd to the 6th August this year.
The group consisted of 2 boys and 10 girls from various
junior high schools in Otaru, who were escorted by
two chaperones (one of them was a junior high school
teacher and the other was an Otaru City Office staff
member).
They attended and visited some events and tourist spots
around our city, while learning first-hand about a sliceof the Kiwi life through home stay.

The delegates visited the Dunedin City Council (including
meeting with the Mayor), walked Baldwin Street (world’s
steepest street), took a tour of Forsyth Barr Stadium(including the Highlanders’/the All Blacks’ changing
room and the pitch) and the Otago Museum (including
the new Science Centre), as well as experiencing Otago
Farmers Market and Taieri Gorge Railway.
They also attended the International Students Welcome
function held by the Dunedin City Council and theHiroshima Day event.
I hope that some of the delegates will come back to
Dunedin in the future
and will experience
more of what the city
has to offer.
It was the thirteenth
visit by the Otaru Youth
Delegation. It takes
place
approximatelybiennially, and it willbe Dunedin’s turn nexttime to send a group ofyoung representativesof the city to Otaru.

Photo: The Otaru Youth
Delegation in front of
the Dunedin Railway
Station. (Left: Chaperone
Tomohiro Kanazawa,
Matsugae Junior HighSchool; Right: Chaperone
Iroha Saito, Otaru City
Office)Photo: Yoshi Isoyama

MulticulturalTimes
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covering all ethnicities is out now.
> See more and read online atwww. multiculturaltimes.news

N E W S L E T T E R
August 2018

Taupō Museum and Suzhou – Faith and LifeBy Katy Glenie, Communications Advisor, Taupō District Council
Preparations continue at Taupō Museum for theupcoming Suzhou – Faith and Life exhibition, which
opens on August 31. The exhibition features treasuresvalued at over $4.5m from the Tang and Song dynasties,
dating back to 618 AD. It is the first time an exhibitionof this age and significance has been hosted by Taupō
Museum, and has come about through the town’s
relationship with Chinese sister city Suzhou.
In June delegates Mr Liu Ming and Ms Yao Yao from
Suzhou Museum visited to check on preparations. Dueto the age and significance of the artefacts, humidity
control and security measures are vitally important.
Library and museum manager Luisa Haines said
Mr Ming and Ms Yao were very happy with thearrangements in place. “Suzhou Museum is one of thegreat international museums, and we are fortunate tohave this unprecedented opportunity to share theseancient artefacts with our district. We are expecting
visitors from all over New Zealand.”Museum displays officer Jon Primer said visitors to theexhibition will have a glimpse of a fascinating world offaith and life over 1000 years old. “This is the first timethese artefacts have been shown in New Zealand. There

are some incredible pieces, including a replica Pearl
Pillar (a Buddhist holy relic), precious tomb items andbeautiful celadon and porcelain pottery. The exhibits
range from holy pieces to everyday objects.”
Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas said it was aprivilege to meet Mr Ming and Ms Yao. “The Faith andLife exhibition is part of a broader celebration of Taupō’s
10-year sister city relationship with Suzhou. These
relationships give us the opportunity to bring worldclass events like this to Taupō.”Suzhou - Faith and Life is part ofa number of activities celebrating
Taupō’s sister city relationship with
Suzhou. These include the installationof a ceremonial archway in the
Tongariro Domain (a gift from Suzhou)
and a series of events at Taupō’s
Winter Festival in July.

Left to right: Bernise Williams – Taupō Museum Collection Curator, Mr Simon Appleton – CEO Eastern Bridge Ltd., Mr Liu Ming –Head of Security, Suzhou Museum, Ms. Yao Yao – Head of Conservation, Suzhou Museum (looking over plans for the exhibition), Jon
Primmer – Taupō Museum Displays Officer, Luisa Haines – Taupō District Council Library and Museum Manager