On Saturday, 2 September, Matsuri Brisbane 2023 was held in the City of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. The venue was bustling with approximately 70 stalls and booths, attracting over 10,000 attendees.
CLAIR Sydney ran a booth at this event, promoting various regions of Japan through the distribution of tourism brochures and materials provided in advance by Japanese local governments which have friendly ties with local governments in Queensland.
Several local Japanese residents who visited the booth expressed, “I didn’t know that there was a sister city from my hometown prefecture within Queensland,” their surprised reactions to the unexpected aspect of their hometown prefecture were quite impressive.
In addition, we had the opportunity to interact with numerous local people who were enthusiastic about gathering information, and they mentioned, “I had only decided to travel to Japan, and I was planning to think about specific destinations later.” This experience helped us realise the importance of face-to-face communication.
We will continue to spread information while cooperating with Japanese local governments, supporting those who have an interest in Japan, and ensuring that their visits to Japan become even more meaningful.
We brought over 1,000 brochures this time, and they were all popular that we ran out completely.
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.
