On 7 September, CLAIR Sydney ran a booth at the South West Festival of Japan, held in Bunbury, Western Australia. At the Festival, we promoted tourist destinations and specialties in Setagaya, Bunbury’s sister city, as well as many attractive tourism locations from across Japan. We also promoted the Rugby World Cup 2019, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai. Ms Carol McDowall, Senior Officer of International Relations at the City of Bunbury, who is one of the participants of the Local Government Exchange and Cooperation Seminar held by CLAIR in 2018, visited our booth.
There were many visitors at the Festival and it was a great success. At the main venue, there were events such as powerful taiko (Japanese style traditional drum) performances and a kimono show, which captivated the attention of many of the visitors. In addition, this year’s Festival incorporated a ‘stamp rally’ activity in which festival visitors could walk around Bunbury’s CBD area to collect stamps from designated stores. Stores were filled with Festival visitors, many of whom enjoyed the activities held inside the stores, such as an origami workshop.
CLAIR Sydney will continue to promote sister city exchanges and provide support for promotional activities of Japanese local governments in Australia and New Zealand. We look forward to seeing the South West Festival of Japan 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.
