On 24 November, a ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Minokamo and Dubbo sister city relationship was held in Shoyoen, the Japanese garden in Dubbo, New South Wales. The ceremony was attended by many officials including Minokamo City’s Mayor Mr ITO Seiichi, an official delegation from Minokamo, Dubbo’s Mayor Cr Ben Shields, and the Consul-General of Japan in Sydney Mr KIYA Masahiko.
On the day, there was an unveiling ceremony for ‘Minokamo Way’, which is a walkway located next to Shoyoen. In October this year, a delegation from Dubbo visited Minokamo City, and unveiled a walkway named ‘Dubbo Road’ in River Port Park Minokamo during their time in the City. At the time, three bronze kangaroo statues were also put on permanent display in Minokamo City, to symbolise the strong friendship between the two cities, and this also shows that the friendship is recognised by many citizens in both cities.
At the ceremony in Dubbo, tea was served at the tea house in Shoyoen, Jurian, and there were Taiko drums and Japanese flute performances on the stage in the park. There was also a choir performance of an original sister city song by Dubbo students who went to Minokamo for an exchange program this year.
There are many interesting connections derived from the exchanges that involved 400 people between the two cities in the past 30 year. One of which is the story of a current Dubbo resident who participated in the ceremony as an interpreter. This resident attended high school in Minokamo and was sent to Dubbo for an exchange program where she met her future husband, who is from Dubbo and had visited Minokamo for a school exchange. They are now married and have two children, and the exchange between the two cities now continues in the next generation.
Following the ceremony, on the next day, the Minokamo delegation visited the CLAIR Sydney office and had meaningful discussions on Australia’s multicultural policies, as well as Minokamo’s intercultural measures with members of CLAIR Sydney.
CLAIR Sydney will continue to support the sister city exchanges between Minokamo and Dubbo.
