Australia – Japan Partner for Tourism Exchange 2013

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Hokkaido is the northernmost of the four

main islands of Japan. For Australians, it is

known for its popular ski resorts and powder

snow. Hokkaido has many attractions, four

distinctive seasons, untouched majestic nature,

and plenty of great food. Each season has its

different characteristics, offering various

scenery, activities and food. This month, we will introduce the recommended tourist

attractions in Hokkaido.

Vivid and Dramatic Autumn

in Hokkaido Leaves begin to

change colour from

yellow to red in about

mid-September in the

highlands and the

season comes to an

end in late October in

urban areas like Sapporo and in southern Hokkaido.

Autumn changes the scenery dramatically and attracts

tourists as well as photographers and painters.

Cruising Drift Ice Covering the Sea

- A Great Feeling - Icebreaker Ships- In winter, the Sea of Okhotsk is covered

by giant, floating masses of ice called “drift ice”.

Icebreaker ships smash their way safely through the ice.

Enjoy Magical Ice World! -Ice bar-The Lake Shikaribetsu

Ice village appears on the

frozen surface of the lake.

One of the highlights of Ice

village is the ice bar, made of

snow and clear ice. You can

even drink from ice glasses!

Healthy and Tasty!

A Treasure-trove of gourmet cuisine Surrounded by the sea,

Hokkaido has numerous

sushi restaurants that

offer delicious raw fish.

Come and try the sushi.

You’ll love it!

In This Issue:

1-2 Hokkaido

2 Tokyo City Promotion 2013

3 Yokote City is looking for a sister school partnership!

3 Snow Monkey town seek Koala sister city!

4 LGNSW 2013

4 Campbelltown-Koshigaya exchange staff program

4 Suporting Okinawa Pref.

5 Assisting KFC

5 Supporting Ishikawa Pref.

6 Internship in Perth

7 Canberra-Nara Candle Festival

8 From The Director

November/2013

Newsletter Issue No.69

Correspondence

Japan Local Government Centre

(CLAIR, Sydney)

Hokkaido

Continued on next page→

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Hokkaido's Unique Culture will Impress You

Ainu culture has unique traditions and traditional arts. Hokkaido has facilities which

aim to preserve and hand down the Ainu culture. We recommend you visit one of

these places such as The Shiraoi Porotokotan Ainu Museum and learn about the Ainu

people and their culture, so that you can experience the Ainu people’s symbiotic

relationship with nature.

For more information, please visit http://en.visit-hokkaido.jp/

People in Hokkaido are all looking forward to welcoming you！

- Article and photos by Hokkaido Prefecture -

Tokyo City Promotion in Australia - December 2013 The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) will come to Melbourne and Sydney in

December 2013 to promote tourism. We will hold seminars and exhibition booths

at the Japan Expo & Matsuri in Sydney as well as plan a Tokyo Lunch project. This

promotional event's themes are to express "Value for Money", "Affordability" and

"Great Food" in Tokyo.

(A) Events Schedule

*** 10 DEC (TUE) 18:00-20:30 Agent & Media Seminar at RACV City Club in

Melbourne.

*** 12 DEC (THU) 18:00-20:30 Agent Seminar at Sydney Harbour Marriott.

*** 14 DEC (SAT) 10:00-19:00 Tokyo tourism promotional exhibition and food

booths, plus stage performances at Japan Expo & Matsuri in Sydney 2013 at

Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour.

(B) Promotion Websites

As a part of this promotion, special websites for both travellers and travel agents

are available until February 2014. Especially, we will prepare prizes including air

tickets to Tokyo on our traveller website to inspire consumers to access travel

agents' websites creating tours to Tokyo.

Traveller Website: http://www.tokyocp2013.org.au (available from later NOV

2013)

Industry Website: http://b2b.tokyocp2013.org.au (available from later OCT 2013)

(C) Tokyo Lunch

Exciting news about a Tokyo Lunch project in Sydney will be revealed soon.

Details are at the following URL from mid December:

*** Tokyo City Promotion 2013: http://www.tokyocp2013.org.au

- Article and photos by Tokyo Metropolitan Government -

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Yokote City in Akita Prefecture is looking for

a Sister School partnership! Yokote City is currently planning a student exchange program for Year 8 to 10

students. They are looking for a Sister School partnership in Australia/New Zealand

where students can exchange their cultures by attending classes and studying with

local students.

Homestay is also a part of the program. Students are looking forward to cultural

exchange as well as the great natural beauty in Australia/New Zealand.

Yokote City plans to send about ten students from seven schools in the city from

next year onwards. They will be hosting students from Australia/New Zealand as

exchange. There are a lot of beautiful and interesting places in Yokote City.

Please visit http://www.city.yokote.lg.jp/files/000073708.pdf

(in English) for more information about Yokote City.

There are no specific requirements for schools. If you are interested

in the program or would like further information, please feel free to

contact us at mailbox@jlgc.org.au or 02 9241 5033.

We will bridge you to Yokote City.

Snow Monkey Town seeks Koala Sister City! Yamanouchi Town in Nagano Prefecture, home of the famous snow monkeys, is looking for an Australian local

government area able to engage in international exchange activities, based on the themes of “Koalas and Snow

Monkeys” and/or “skiing”.

For more information, please refer to the links below:

http://www.clair.or.jp/e/exchange/shimai/kibou-j.html#yamanouchi

http://www.town.yamanouchi.nagano.jp/

If you are interested in Yamanouchi Town, please contact CLAIR. We will be the bridge for your first contact.

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Local Government New South Wales Annual Conference

(LGNSW) 2013 From 1-3 October, we attended the LGNSW Annual Conference at Sydney

Town Hall. This year is a memorable one, as the Local Government Association

of NSW and the Shires Associations of NSW officially became one association

called Local Government NSW. The Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir officially

opened the first LGNSW Annual

Conference. Among other topics, the

business sessions’ main themes were

Local Government financial sustainability, Waste, the New Planning System and

Local and State Government Relations. They were in earnest discussion with

each other and it was a good opportunity for us to exchange opinions with many

Local Government Mayors and Councillors.

Campbelltown and Koshigaya exchange staff program Mr. Yuta Ando, an officer of Koshigaya City in Saitama Prefecture,

visited our office with the staff of Campbelltown to greet and have

a briefing on the Australian economy and the local government

system on 14 October. He has been in Campbelltown as an

exchange staff member from 8 October and will stay until 18

November. During his stay in Australia, he will learn about

Campbelltown's policies and differences between both countries

and cities while doing on the job training. He will also study the

fields of fiscal policy, water supply, wage system of city councils, as

well as the council's practical use of policies or roles after the Sydney Olympics in 2000. CLAIR provided information on

these topics to him to assist his research.

While here, Yuta has attended many events such as the Nara Candle Festival in Canberra and the Japanese Course

Presentation at the University of NSW. We will continue to assist him during his stay in Australia.

Supporting Okinawa Prefecture On 9 October, staff from the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau visited

Sydney to hold an Okinawa sightseeing seminar. It was a great success – there

were over 80 participants. In Okinawa, there are many compelling destinations

such as white sandy beaches and world-class diving spots. Okinawa’s culture and

foods are very different from mainland Japan, originally being the Ryukyu

Kingdom. Almost six million people visit Okinawa every year. If you too would

like to see Okinawa, please see the link below:

http://www.ocvb.or.jp/en/

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Assisting a delegation from the Kobe Foreigners Friendship

Centre (KFC) CLAIR Sydney assisted a delegation from the Kobe Foreigners

Friendship Centre (KFC) with their research in Sydney on best-practice

aged care in Australia.

KFC, a non-profit organisation established to support foreign residents

in Kobe and surrounds, plans to set up a facility for Chinese and

Vietnamese senior citizens.

In our office, we explained the outline of Multicultural policy in

Australia, and accompanied KFC to several facilities during their three-day field research. We saw that every facility is

giving services to their clients with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as managing its activities

with strong support from multiple tiers of government.

Supporting Ishikawa Prefecture Staff from the Ishikawa prefectural government and Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange visited Sydney and

Melbourne in October to promote the Ishikawa Japanese Studies Program. This program is aimed at overseas groups of

workers and university students learning Japanese. It gives participants the opportunity to study about and experience

Japanese language and culture, while participating in a homestay program. From the time of its inception in 1987, the

program has hosted 3,832 participants from 55 universities and groups representing 22 countries. This program has

received much acclaim internationally for being an excellent Japanese language and cultural studies program.

If you are interested in this program, please visit http://www.ifie.or.jp/ijsc/english/

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Internship in Perth - Assistant Director, Tetsu Jinzenji - I was fortunate enough to be accepted for an Internship to the City of Perth in

Western Australia from 22-25 November, gaining invaluable Australian local

government staff experience. In addition, I conducted research on the Australian local

government tourism sector for my CLAIR Report due later this year.

The City of Perth is an attractive and viable development location with a strong

economy, a rich heritage and natural beauty. The CBD area is being redeveloped, with

cranes dotting the skyline. As well, there are public projects underway to improve the

flow of people – a rail line due to be relocated underground will mean the north and

south parts of central Perth will be more easily connected, enabling an easy flow of

people and goods.

I also had the chance to attend an informal meeting between senior staff at the City of Perth Chambers and the CEO –

I saw that this form of communication is very important for information sharing within the council.

I wish to express my deep thanks to Perth City Council for accepting me for this Internship. For their assistance during

my time there, I express my appreciation and thanks to CEO Gray Stevenson PSM, International Relations Coordinator

Chris Hughes and the assistant staff of the City of Perth, City of Fremantle and Government of Western Australia.

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Canberra-Nara Candle Festival On 26 October, Canberra hosted the 10th annual Canberra-Nara Candle Festival as a part of

the sister city relationship between Nara City in Japan and Australia’s capital city.

The festival has been held annually since 2004, but this year it coincided with celebrations

for the 20th anniversary of their friendship, with a delegation visiting Canberra from Nara

led by the city’s Mayor. The left side picture means “Congratulations on the 20th

Anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Canberra and Nara”, which is written in

Japanese Shodo style.

About 15,000 people enjoyed Japanese cuisine and culture such as Sumo, Judo, Kendo, and

even the traditional way of cooking rice cakes. We are sure that those gathered must have

felt the Japanese atmosphere due to the many lit candles in the Japanese-style garden

during the evening.

CLAIR Sydney supported the delegation to promote Nara City’s tourism and tasty sake (Japanese rice wine); we also

promoted tourism spots all over Japan wearing the Japanese kimono and yukata.

We will join the Japan Matsuri at Sydney’s Darling Harbour on 14 December this year as well, to welcome people

interested in, and looking to visit Japan. We are looking forward to meeting some subscribers of our newsletter there –

come along for a fun day of all things Japanese!

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From The Director

Educational system in Japan I sometimes talk about the Australian educational system to Japanese delegations.

One of the differences is Japan adopts the 6-3-3 system, while most states in Australia adopt the 6-6 system.

We have primary school that is almost similar to year 1 to 6, junior high school that is year 7 to 9 and senior high

school that is year 10 to 12.

We usually go to kindergarten or nursery school for two or three years before entering primary school.

Most of the students prepare for exams to enter high school as well as university. So usually, Japanese students study

harder than usual twice in their school days. Some children (or better said, some parents) prefer a private school which

has both a junior and a high school or even a unified school program from kindergarten to university.

The role of the local governments is also different. Municipalities are responsible for the operation of primary and

junior high schools, while prefectures are responsible for high schools, although prefectural governments pay for most

of the salaries of all levels of teachers. One third of this cost and part of the school operation cost such as rebuilding

schools are funded by the central government.

Even though the system varies from country to country, to learn about other countries’ educational systems is very

important to deliver better education.

In that sense, I would like to develop educational exchange between Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR, Sydney)

Level 12 Challis House 4 Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000

P) 02 9241 5033 F) 02 9241 5014

Web) www.jlgc.org.au Email) mailbox@jlgc.org.au