On 13 September, a reception was held by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Training Squadron at the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Base in Sydney.
The Training Squadron consists of the training ship, Kashima, and the escort ship, Inaduma. Both ships carry approximately 570 self-defense officers, including approximately 190 junior officers who graduated from the Officer Candidate School. The Training Squadron are spending around five months sailing around the world, making stops at 11 different countries, including Australia, with the aim of fostering seamanship in the junior officers through training at sea, fostering the international awareness of the junior officers, and deepening friendship with the countries to be visited by the Training Squadron.
The reception began with the beautiful singing voice of Ms MIYAKE Yukari, a vocalist who is known as ‘the Diva of the JMSDF’. There was an opening speech by the Rear Admiral KAJIMOTO Daisuke, Commander of the Training Squadron. At the reception, Japanese dishes were served by the JMSDF chefs on board and the JMSDF band gave musical performances. There was also a tea ceremony class held to entertain the guests.
CLAIR Sydney will continue to strengthen the ties with individuals and organisations involved in the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship.
From the 3rd to the 13th of December, eight selected swimmers from the Fukuoka Swimming Association visited NSW, where they participated in joint training sessions with a local school and competed in the 2024-25 Speedo NSW Senior State Age Championships.
