Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR, Sydney)
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Japan Local Government Centre
(CLAIR, Sydney)
6 Clair staff visit Anglicare Longueville Centre
This issue includes:
7 SMASH!
1 Local Cuisine around Japan
8 Suginami City Board of Education visit Sydney
2 Support activities for Ehime prefecture
8 Tokyo students visit Sydney
‐ Experience Japan 2017
9 Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival
3 High school students from Fukushima visit Sydney
9 The City of Tea Tree Gully celebrate 10 years of friendship
4 Support activity for Hokkaido and Aomori
with Asakuchi city
4 Kyoto students visit Sydney
10 The Busselton and Sugito cities association’s (Bassca’s)
4 Careers in Language Fair 2017
effort recognized by the Japanese Government
5 Mr. Taira, Associate Professor, visited CLAIR Sydney
12 JETAA
5 Kawasaki Junior Cultural Prize Presentation
13 Our new intern
6 Supporting Saga prefecture
14 From the Director
“Sukiyaki Support” from Gunma Prefecture
Gunma prefecture is located approximately 100km
north of Tokyo. Mountains rise to 2000m towards the
northwestern end of the prefecture whilst the crystal‐
clear waters of the Tone river support the fertile lands
spreading across the southern region. Gunma utilizes
its highlands and lowlands to produce various fresh and
delicious fruits and vegetables, like rice, wheat and
mushrooms all year round. In addition, the prefecture
also has a thriving livestock industry producing high
volumes of pork and dairy products, positioning it
within the top ranks of prefectural domestic production. Gunma beef also happens to be exported overseas
as a luxury food.
With its abundant agricultural and livestock resources, it would only be natural to introduce a dish that
represents all of this and serves as a perfect symbol of
Gunma prefecture, sukiyaki.
Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese dish that has a history
dating back 150 years. Its salt and sugar sauce base
enables you to fully enjoy the original yet intensified taste
of thinly sliced beef with shirataki noodles and locally
sourced vegetables. All the premium ingredients needed
to make great sukiyaki is readily available in Gunma
prefecture, such as Joshu Wagyu beef, which is the first
Page 1
type of beef to be exported to the EU from Japan, and
Shimonita onions which are dubbed the “King of Onions”.
Gunma prefecture offers its upmost hospitality in delivering
the finest sukiyaki in the nation sourced from its carefully
protected agricultural and livestock produce combined with
a recipe which has been handed down through the
generations.
Gunma prefecture is also known for its silk industry with the
Tomioka Silk Mill registered as a World Heritage site in 2014,
attracting a lot of international tourists. The prefecture is
also home to some natural hot springs and traditional Japanese inns promising a peaceful and relaxing time
to visitors. On top of all this, you can also enjoy hiking in the
summer and skiing in the winter, making full use of Gunma
prefectures diverse natural landscape.
If you happen to travel to Japan, please stop by Gunma
prefecture to enjoy Japan’s best sukiyaki and our blessed
natural surroundings.
https://www.visitgunma.jp/en/food/index.html
On 2 August, the Sydney Opera House hosted Experience
Japan 2017 to promote Japanese cuisine, culture and
tourism. Iron Chefs Rokusaburo Michiba (Japanese),
Hiroyuki Sakai (French), Kenichi Chen (Chinese) and
Masahiko Kobe (Italian) served up a fabulous array of
dishes. CLAIR assisted Ehime prefecture with their booth
on the day.
Ingredients were provided by five Japanese prefectures,
namely, Niigata, Nagano, Tokushima, Ehime and Okinawa.
The five prefectures also ran booths at the event to
promote tourism and their locally sourced products. There
were long lines in front of all the booths to try out locally
sourced citrus and peach juice, fruit peels, miso and various
other goodies all of which got rave reviews from attendees.
On 3 August, CLAIR staff supporting Ehime prefecture
activities split into two groups, one group accompanying
Page 2
Ehime staff to the culinary institute, William Angliss, and
the other supporting Ehime staff visiting local media and
travel agencies.
Ehime staff stopped by William Angliss with the visiting
Iron Chefs to interact with the students there as part of
an event related to Experience Japan 2017. The students
cooked up original dishes using ingredients from the five
Japanese prefectures that participated in Experience
Japan 2017 under the instruction and advice of the
visiting Iron Chefs. Father and son Iron Chef duo, Kenichi and Kentaro Chen also performed a cooking demonstration
by making Mabo Dofu and Nobumasa Shimoyama, world latte art champion, held a latte art workshop. It was a
fantastic opportunity to promote the techniques of world class chefs and Japanese food to young prospective chefs
in Sydney.
Ehime staff also visited media and travel agencies to
promote local tourism. Particular emphasis was placed on
promoting cycling destinations in Ehime such as the
Shimanami sea route. The respective agencies gave Ehime
prefecture some good advice and ideas on their tourism
promotional activities. CLAIR also reached out to local
cycling organisations in NSW and VIC to arrange meetings
for Ehime.
CLAIR will continue to support Ehime prefecture in their
efforts to promote their brand in Australia.
On 3 August, 29 junior high school students from
Fukushima city in Fukushima prefecture visited CLAIR
Sydney. Our staff (from both Japan and Australia)
made presentations and gave information on the role
of CLAIR Sydney, their experiences overseas and the
differences in working conditions and everyday life
between the two countries. Students were interested
in overseas postings and life in foreign countries. They
also visited Stella Maris College and University of
Technology, Sydney. We wish them all the best in
their future endeavours and hope to see them working abroad in the near future.
Page 3
CLAIR Sydney supported the tourism research efforts of the Hokkaido Tourism bureau and Aomori prefecture
in Queenstown, New Zealand and the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales throughout the months of July
and August.
We promoted Hokkaido and Aomori ski resorts to increase public awareness and to help improve the number
of visitors to these regions. We also conducted a survey on overseas ski trips amongst visitors at Queenstown
and the Snowy Mountains. We also met with representatives from tourism organisations and ski resorts in
the region such as Destination Queenstown, the Treble Cone, Perisher and Thredbo.
On 8 August, 10 junior high school students from Ide town in Kyoto prefecture visited CLAIR Sydney. Ms
Okamoto who was seconded from Ide Town to CLAIR talked about the organisation, the type of work she
does and also explained what she learned from working abroad. Students enjoyed the talk and had the
opportunity to ask questions and discuss any relevant areas of interest.
We hope the students will make the most of this opportunity to think about their future careers.
We wish them all the best and hope they continue to cherish and take pride in their hometown of Ide!
On 8 August, CLAIR Sydney ran a booth at Careers in
Language Fair 2017 in Glebe Town Hall.
It was a career event for students studying Japanese. We
promoted the JET Programme and local areas of Japan at
the event. Most visitors were high school and university
students who showed lots of interest in the JET
Programme as well as Japanese culture and sightseeing.
We enjoyed answering all of their questions. (Some of
them even asked questions in Japanese!)
During the event, visitors listened attentively to advice
from guests speakers from JETAA‐NSW, JETRO, the Japan
Foundation, Innovation Dojo and SMASH!, and enjoyed
activities like Shiritori (a traditional Japanese game) and
trying on Yukata (summer kimonos). We are really excited
about what the future holds for them!
Page 4
On 14 August, Mr Taira, Associate Professor at
Nihon University visited CLAIR Sydney to have a
meeting to discuss Australian law and to prepare
for a visit to the NSW Department of Justice on
Friday.
He is currently conducting research on merits
review done by Tribunals in Australia. He met with
NCAT (NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal), ACT
Civil and Administrative Tribunal, a professor from
ANU and some other relevant agencies. CLAIR also
accompanied him during the visit to the NSW
Department of Justice.
He was able to further refine his research through his visit to Australia.
On 17 August, CLAIR Sydney attended
the official reception of the 26th
Kawasaki Junior Cultural Prize
Presentation in Wollongong. Four
students aged 12 from Kawasaki were
chosen as recipients of the award based
on their outstanding art and essay
submissions. The prize, sponsored by
Kawasaki Shinkin Bank, is the
opportunity for select students in Japan
to visit Wollongong, which is a sister city
of Kawasaki. During the presentation
ceremony, the prize winners handed
their works over to the Lord Mayor of Wollongong to be displayed in the Wollongong Council offices.
Page 5
On 10 August, a delegation from Genkai Mirai Gakuen
which is located in Genkai town in Saga prefecture,
Japan visited Korowal School in Hazelbrook, NSW to
discuss their activities as friendship schools. Much
planning and communication was done in the lead up
to the visit which provided both schools the
opportunity to meet in person and confirm each
other’s intentions, with the meeting ending with the
signing of their official friendship‐school agreement.
CLAIR Sydney attended the meeting and was present
for the signing event. The schools came into contact
through our official webpage with information on Japanese and Australian schools looking to partner up for
student exchange programmes.
We hope our webpage and promotional activities can give more Japanese and Australian schools the chance
to engage in international interactions and we will continue to support them in student exchange activities.
On 13 August, four junior high students and six
companions including the Superintendent of the Board Page 5
of Education from Genkai town, Saga prefecture, visited
our office. Our Director Mr. Kamibo gave an outline of Page 5
Australia to the visitors and a staff member at CLAIR
Sydney talked about the role of CLAIR and how she got
this opportunity to work abroad. We answered many
interesting questions from the students who seemed to
have a strong interest in communicating in English.
The students enjoyed three days of homestay in the City of Blue Mountains where their partner school is
located. They were impressed with the warm Australian hospitality they received and are keen to further
strengthen ties with Australia.
CLAIR Sydney will help where possible in the further development of these relationships.
On 22 August, CLAIR staff visited Anglicare Longueville Centre to study more about day care services for
Japanese residents in Sydney aged 65 or older.
This service is offered by Japanese volunteers every month and around 10 people utilise the service each
time. People enjoyed reciting Japanese essays and poems, singing Japanese folk songs and dancing. Anglicare
Longueville Centre rents a space for aged care service to a range of ethnic communities, funded by a grant
from the Australian government.
Page 6
Like Japan, Australia is faced with a number of challenges with regards to dementia, home care, and nursing
home shortages. On top of this, some non‐English‐speaking residents in nursing homes tend to feel distant
from others and feel stressed due to the lack of opportunities to speak in their native languages and eat
ethnic food.
We learnt that day care service for ethic groups is particularly crucial for elderly people to enjoy healthy lives
without nursing‐care and how important volunteers are. It was a great opportunity to think more about how
to deal with the increase in non‐Japanese elderly residents in Japan and the challenges they face.
SMASH! 2017(Sydney Manga and Anime Show) was held 19‐20
August at Rosehill Gardens in Western Sydney. CLAIR Sydney had
a booth at the event to promote tourism destinations in Japan
that have connections to popular anime and manga. The event is
one of the
biggest pop
cultural events
in Australia and
many talented
cosplayers portraying different anime and manga
characters attended. Next Year’s event will be held on 14‐
15 next July at ICC Sydney.
Page 7
On 22 August, the Director and staff
from the Suginami City Board of
Education and Seibi Education Centre,
who are currently visiting Sydney with
a group of junior high school students
on a study abroad programme, visited
CLAIR Sydney. Through the
programme, 25 junior high school
students from Suginami City visit
schools in Sydney, do a homestay and
conduct research on topics which
have been decided in advance. We
learned about the programme and
discussed how CLAIR can support further development of the programme which marked its 5th anniversary
this year.
On 22 August, students from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Igusa High School came to CLAIR Sydney. They
visited Sydney to deepen their understanding of other cultures and study English. The students attended
Toongabbie Christian School to experience school in Australia and interact with local students, whilst also
partaking in a homestay programme. Mr Komatsu, Assistant Director of CLAIR Sydney, who previously worked
for Igusa High School, made a presentation on policy and economy in Australia, the cultural differences
between Australia and Japan, and also gave tips on how to study English.
Page 8
From 26 to 27 August, CLAIR ran a booth at Cumberland
Council's Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival 2017 in Auburn
Botanical Gardens where we introduced and promoted
Japanese tourism, especially places famous for cherry
blossoms such as Hirosaki City in Aomori Prefecture,
Joetsu City in Niigata Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, and
Takayama City in Gifu Prefecture. The festival itself goes
for two weeks with the last two days attracting over
30,000 visitors, exceeding last year’s numbers. Our booth
was full of visitors asking questions regarding Japanese
cherry blossoms. We were glad to have the opportunity to give information to many visitors who have a
keen interest in Japan.
The City of Tea Tree Gully has enjoyed a long and
valued friendship with our Japanese friends. In
1997, we entered into a Friendship Agreement with
Kamogata Town. Then in 2007, we signed an official
Sister City Agreement with Asakuchi City.
Both of these agreements have formed the basis for
developing cultural, educational, sporting and
business ties. The many highlights of this
relationship have included:
• A yearly student exchange program between Kamogata Junior High and Modbury High School.
• Staff exchange program’s which included Kamogata Town Hall staff member, Toshiyuki Hirai,
working at our Council for 3 months.
• Delegation visit of officials and staff to and from the City of Tea Tree Gully.
On the evening of Monday 31 July The City of Tea Tree Gully hosted a
delegation from Asakuchi, our Japanese sister city. The occasion was a special
one, with 2017 marking 10 years of friendship with Asakuchi‐shi. The
delegation included Mr Tadashi Kushida and Ms Maki Arioka, from the
Asakuchi Board of Education & Deana Lucano, a Tea Tree Gully girl who is
currently living and teaching in Asakuchi through the JET Programme. Mayor
Knight kicked off the night with a formal speech via Skype, to which Asakuchi
Mayor Kuriyama provided a speech.
Page 9
After that young members of the Japanese culture group
provided Japanese introductions for Mayor Kuriyama. He
asked lots of questions to our young people, and told
them to one day come to Asakuchi city and enjoy udon
noodles with him!
We had 80 people attend on the night, which was
fantastic. Many locals who have travelled to Asakuchi
were there, as well as some members of local Japanese
families.
The Japanese culture group for youth has been meeting monthly since October 2016 to engage in language
and culture. Many friendships have been formed, and we have had some great outcomes such as student
public speaking/presentations, language, culture and the establishment of a pen pal relationship between
Australian‐Japanese students.
The partnership between Asakuchi City, the City of Tea Tree Gully and Modbury High School has endured
for 20 years and we hope it continues for many years to come.
The Busselton and Sugito Sister Cities Association (BASSCA) has recently been recognised by the Japanese
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan for their work in promoting mutual understanding, goodwill and friendship
between Japan and Australia.
Page 10Minister Fumio Kishida bestowed commendations upon 187 individuals and 45 groups or organisations
worldwide. Out of these commendations a total of 160 individuals and 36 groups and organisations were
outside of Japan, which included four from Western Australia.
The Foreign Minister’s Commendations are awarded annually to individuals or groups in recognition of
exceptional and distinguished services in the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and their
respective countries.
President of BASSCA, Pauline Vukelic, advised “This award comes as BASSCA celebrates the 20th Anniversary
of the Sister City relationship between Busselton and the town of Sugito and to receive such a rare recognition
in this milestone year caps off what has been an amazing year”.
BASSCA was recognised for their work in deepening the friendship between Busselton and Saitama
Prefecture’s, Sugito Town and their programmes, which include an annual Student Exchange and Biennial
Community Cultural Exchange. More than 500 students and community members have participated in
reciprocal visits between the cities and experienced a unique immersive homestay experience. Spanning
generations, BASSCA has worked for over 20 years to plan and implement cultural, art and person‐to‐person
exchanges between the cities, involving students, community members, teachers and City officials.
Other Western Australian Recipients were:
• Gerard Boylan, Former President of Australia‐Japan Society, Western Australia
• Terry O'Toole, Former President Australia‐Japan Society of Geraldton
• Support Net Niji no Kai
The award was formally presented by Mr Tatsuo Hirayama, Consul‐General of Japan, Perth at the Civic
Welcome Function for Sugito Students visiting as part of the Annual Student Exchange Program, on Monday
evening (7 August 2017).
2017 Annual Student Exchange
The City of Busselton recently farewelled the students from its Sister City Sugito, Japan after their visit to
Busselton as part of the Annual Busselton Sugito Student Exchange.
The students were home‐hosted by local families for their 9 night stay. They also attended school with their
hosts and had two tour days where they got to explore the local region.
This year they visited Dunsborough Primary School, Wonky Windmill Farm, explored Ngilgi Cave and explored
the iconic Busselton Jetty. They also were given a tour of the Busselton Sea Rescue facilities and had a chance
to get on the water in the Sea Rescue’s two rescue vessels.
The Sugito students who participated were from Sugito Higashi Junior High School, Hiroshima Junior High
School and Higashi and Shohei Junior High Schools.
9 Busselton Students from Busselton Senior High School, St Mary McKillop College, Georgiana Molly Anglican
School and Cape Naturaliste College will travel to Sugito in the October School Holidays to enjoy their own
homestay experience in a Japanese home.
Now in its 24th year, the Busselton and Sugito Student exchange program is designed to open the eyes of
local students to a new culture and make new friends through a variety of experiences.
It also enhances the sister city relationship by promoting mutual understanding, goodwill and friendship
between the people of Busselton and Sugito.
Page 11One of the challenges for the JETAANSW committee is to continuously think of different events and improving
the way we support our JET and alumni community. For example, like all chapters, JETAANSW provides
support every year for new JET participants such as helping run seminars and workshops at the JET Pre‐
departure Orientation. To make it more relevant for attendees, we compartmentalised the day into different
topics that attendees can choose to attend based on their specific needs. Our biggest success has been the
response to our workshop for female JET participants, talking about issues on health and situations that they
may find themselves in once they move to Japan.
Other events we’re doing that are new include a Sake Tasting and Appreciation Night, which was held at the
newly opened Sakeshop (the first store in Sydney that specialises in Japanese liquor and sake). Thanks to
Sakeshop, a discount was available for those who attended our event. We will also have a Haiku Workshop
that will be running at Callan Park, Rozelle, to celebrate the start of spring – this will be run by a former JET
and JETAA committee member.
The second half of the year will see a few more events such as our Networking Night. The event is an
opportunity for us to welcome back new JETs and help them settle back into Sydney life. We hope to also
conduct a short workshop on career paths and other job‐searching skills which will then be followed by the
relaxed networking event. We are looking for JET alumni who would be able to participate in November –
and look forward to meeting other members of the JET alumni community. As always, we are contactable on
info@jetaansw.org – your advice will be greatly appreciated!
I would like to pay tribute to our treasurer Melissa Ong, who will be retiring as JETAANSW’s Treasurer. She
has been a great supporter and member of JETAA, not just for
the New South Wales committee, but also for Queensland,
where she started. Her advice and experience has been a
great asset to JETAANSW. Though it is with sadness that we
see her go, we are also very happy and excited for her, as she
starts a new family. JETAANSW will miss her warmth and
generosity, and we are deeply appreciative of her tireless
service and cheerfulness. To Mel, we wish you all the very best,
and thank you very, very much!
Page 12Hi everybody, my name is Junna Yamaoka, and I’m a new intern at CLAIR’s Sydney
office. I am currently on a one‐year exchange program at the University of
Wollongong studying international affairs and Australian history. I am a 4th year
international relations student back at my home university in Japan. I hope to
build up my knowledge of multiculturalism in Australia at CLAIR and to learn
more about the various ties between Japan and Australia.
The main reason why I applied for an internship at CLAIR is because I’m
interested in the formation of identities, especially amongst immigrants in
multicultural societies. CLAIR is an organisation researching multiculturalism in
Australian society which makes it the perfect place to learn more on this topic.
Moreover, in the future I would like to have a job which connects Japan with
other countries, thus this internship at CLAIR is the perfect opportunity for me to
Junna Yamaoka
learn about how governmental organisations contribute to Japan’s international
relations.
I’m grateful to have such a great opportunity to work at a Japanese local government organization. I am looking forward
to getting to know and learning from everyone at CLAIR Sydney.
Hello, my name is Miyu Tsuchida and I am a new intern at CLAIR starting August. I
am currently studying urban planning and society at the University of Sydney on
exchange for one year. I am majoring in international relations at my home
university in Japan.
I am interested in how countries and cities develop especially in terms of society.
As I wanted to learn more about how multicultural societies works, I chose
Australia as my university exchange destination.
I am learning more about Australian society and people’s ways of thinking through
my daily life as an exchange student. As I was interested to learn about these
aspects from a more academic perspective such as policies and governance, I
applied for an internship at CLAIR Sydney.
Miyu Tsuchida I am very excited to be a part of CLAIR Sydney and further develop my knowledge
and opinions on the issues I’ve just mentioned. I believe this internship will also
allow me to experience working in a government organization and in Australia.
Page 13From the Director
23 – Rice Growing - A Year of Local Governments in Japan
September is the beginning of Autumn in Japan and most Japanese rice farmers begin to harvest their paddy
fields around this time. For Japan, the self‐professed Mizuho no Kuni (rice country), rice growing has been
the most important industry since the origin of its civilisation with respective local administrations and
governments playing a vital role in the industry, this role expanding in modern times.
After WWII, there was a serious rice shortage in Japan due to the devastation caused by the war. In response
to this, the central and local governments carried out significant land reforms where landlords with large
holdings of agricultural land were instructed to sell excess land to the government at a fixed price which was
then redistributed and sold to individual farmers at the same price. Effective rice growing techniques were
also taught to these smaller farmers to allow them to maximise produce. These land reform policies were so
successful in increasing rice production that it resulted in a rice surplus.
This prompted the Japanese central and local governments to promote changes from the production of rice
to other crops. Additionally, factories and other large employers were encouraged to do business in rural
areas to reduce the number of farmers. These measures succeeded and resulted in the steady decrease of
farmers and the cultivated area of rice, which eventually led to an increase in abandoned paddy fields.
Local government is the closest tier of government to residents, meaning at the time of these policy shifts
they had to shoulder the harder and more direct tasks such as paddy field redistribution and the allocation
of new crops to replace rice. Today, Japanese local governments are still faced with the challenge of recruiting
farmers to cultivate local agricultural land and simultaneously sustain their economy and environment.
Page 14You can also read
