From 16 to 22 November, Assistant Director Yu Kawamura visited Hutt City Council in New Zealand for his internship.
Lower Hutt City is located just north of Wellington, New Zealand. Recently, the city has been inviting pioneering industry stakeholders and tertiary research institutes into the city to transform it into a hub for innovation. They have also been investing in projects to improve infrastructure and public facilities. The City is also actively conducting student cultural exchanges and personnel exchanges, through its International Cooperating Cities Agreement with Minoh city in Osaka Prefecture.
During his visit to the council, he visited public facilities and met with students who were in Minoh visiting their sister school and joined Japanese classes held at the Embassy of Japan in Wellington. He participated in the Hutt Japan Day hosted by Lower Hutt city for the first time and the ‘Korero 2017’ function hosted by Sister City New Zealand. He exchanged opinions about how to further develop the relationship between Lower Hutt city and CLAIR. Furthermore he was able to learn more about policies and projects in Lower Hutt and the strong relationship between Lower Hutt and Minoh. Through his internship he was able to understand why many people who live in Lower Hutt have a deep attachment to Japan.
Yu was able to experience great times and precious memories in Lower Hutt. He’d like to thank Mayor Ray Wallace and everyone at Lower Hutt City Council. He hopes to share what he has learnt from this internship with other Japanese local governments. He appreciates all the people who supported his internship. CLAIR will continue to support the wonderful and strong relationship between Lower Hutt and Minoh.
