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 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 and Aomori with Asakuchi city 4 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 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.

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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!

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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 10 Minister 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.

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One 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 [email protected] – 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 12 Hi 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.

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From 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.

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