On 27 Jan, Mr Hamish McDouall, the Mayor of Whanganui District Council and other related personnel, welcomed a delegation from Nagaizumi-cho in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the sister city relationship between the two government areas. The delegation included Nagaizumi-cho’s Mayor Ikeda, and the Chairperson of the town’s council, Mr Uematsu. Representatives from the Embassy of Japan in New Zealand, Sister Cities New Zealand, and CLAIR Sydney were in attendance at the event after receiving the kind invitation from Mayor McDouall.
Whanganui and Nagaizumi-cho have been conducting a wide variety of exchange activities between them, including student exchange programs and representatives from Nagaizumi-cho participating in the New Zealand Masters Games event held in Whanganui. Additionally, Mayor McDouall visited Nagaizumi-cho last August and participated in the local WakuWaku Festival. He even showed us the dance he learnt at the festival and told us that he danced for 2.5 hours at the festival last year in Nagaizumi-cho!
CLAIR Sydney would like to continue our support for the vigorous activities between Whanganui and Nagaizumi-cho.
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.
