On June 22, the Lismore and Yamato-Takada 55th Sister City Anniversary Welcome Dinner and Reaffirmation Ceremony was held in Lismore. Staff from CLAIR Sydney were in attendance as Lismore City Council had kindly extended an invitation to us. The Mayor of Yamato-Takada City (in Nara Prefecture), Mr. Masakatsu Yoshida, and a delegation from Yamato-Takada City Government, as well as members from the Yamato Takada Lismore Sister City Association were also in attendance at the event. Established in August 1963, the sister city relationship is the first ever sister city relationship between Australia and Japan. During the event, Mayor Yoshida expressed his desire to welcome a delegation from Lismore to Yamato-Takada City for the 60th Anniversary event, to be held in the city in the year 2023.
The following day, the delegation from Yamato-Takada participated in the annual Lantern Parade in Lismore. To commemorate the Yamato-Takada delegation’s visit, the City of Lismore especially created a lantern in the shape of Yamato-Takada’s mascot character, Miku-chan, which was on display during the event. Together with students from Lismore who went on exchange in Yamato-Takada, everyone who has an affiliation with the Lismore and Yamato-Takada sister city relation marched in the lantern parade.
We would like to express our gratitude to the staff at Lismore City Council for kindly inviting us to attend such a special event, and we hope the friendships between the two cities will continue to thrive in future.
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.
