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Newsletter Issue

No.95 Jan 2016

Happy New Year

2016!

Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR, Sydney)

In This Issue:

1 2016 CLAIR Forum

2 Festivals around Japan

2 Emperor’s Birthday Celebration Reception

3 Supporting visitors from Legislative Bureau,

the Japanese House of Councillors

3-5 2015 LG Exchange and Co-operation Seminar

6 2016 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference

7-8 JETAA NSW Activities

8 Introducing our new intern

9 From the Director

CLAIR and ACELG cordially invite you to this year’s CLAIR Forum

Date: Wednesday 24 February Time: 2:00pm to 5:00pm Venue: Aerial UTS Function Centre UTS Building 10, Level 7 235 Jones St Ultimo NSW 2007

Light refreshments will be provided and entry is free of charge

For registration, please click here and follow the instructions

Applications close on Wednesday 17 February (URL: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-clair-forum-tickets-20772330600)

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Festivals around Japan: Vol. 3 Kobe City

- “Shun Setsu”(Chinese Lunar New Year Festival) in Nankinmachi, Kobe City

Nankinmachi is Kobe’s lively Chinatown which is one of the

3 major Chinatowns in Japan.

In Nankinmachi, they celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year

Festival (Shun Setsu) in February.

During the Shun Setsu Festival, you can witness traditional

dragon dance performances, shishimai (guardian lion

dance) and people dressed up as characters of Sangokushi

（Annals of the Three Kingdoms）

The 47-meter-long golden dragon only appears once a year

for this festival.

It is strongly recommended to enjoy the festival whilst

treating yourself to some Chinese food and sweets.

Kobe City Homepage - General Information and Resources

URL: http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/foreign/english/

Official Kobe Tourism Site Feel KOBE:

URL http://www.feel-kobe.jp/_en/

His Majesty the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration Reception

On Tuesday 1 December, Consul-General Takaoka held a reception to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty

the Emperor of Japan at the Consul-General’s Residence. Guests were able to experience a Japanese-style

reception which included the custom of Kagami-biraki (opening the wooden top of a sake barrel with wooden

mallets for the wishing of good fortune and harmony).

Approximately 270 guests attended the celebrations from various fields including Mr Michael Miller,

representing the Governor of New South Wales, The Honourable John Ajaka, Minister for Multiculturalism

representing the Premier of New South Wales, The Honourable Tom Bathurst, Chief Justice of New South

Wales, members of embassies, universities and Australian and Japanese companies, as well as members of

the Japanese community. CLAIR set up a booth for the event and provided information regarding Japanese

tourism by introducing the City of Nagoya and the cherry blossom season in Japan.

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Supporting visitors from the Legislative Bureau of

the Japanese House of Councillors

Staff from the Legislative Bureau of the Japanese House of

Councillors visited our office for a briefing regarding cultural

exchange between Japan and Australia.

Our Director, Mr Kamibo, gave a presentation about Australian

economics and tourism tendencies which was followed by a

presentation by our Deputy Director, Mr Yoshimi, regarding the

sister city relationship between Nagoya city and Sydney city. In

his presentation, Mr Yoshimi also elaborated on Nagoya Day

which was the event held in Hyde Park to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Nagoya and Sydney

Sister City relationship.

We hope that many divisions of the Japanese government will achieve a deeper understanding of the cultural

exchange between Japan and Australia from activities such as this.

2015 Local Government Exchange and Co-operation Seminar ~ Article and photos from Geraldine O’Connor, Senior Programs Officer, Centre for Local

Government (CLG) and Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) ~

The 2015 Local Government Exchange and Co-operation Seminar participants traveled to Japan in November

to visit Tokyo and Yamato Takada City in the Nara Prefecture.

The themes of the 2015 exchange were:

- sister city relations and their impacts

- protection of cultural properties

The team The 2015 participants included Ian Abbott Mayor, City of

Palmerston Northern Territory, Logan Howlett, Mayor City

of Cockburn Western Australia, Neil Marks, Councillor

Lismore City Council (sister city of Yamato Takada City),

Matt O’Mara, Chief Executive Officer Stratford Council New

Zealand, Kimberley Wu, Global Partnership and Strategy

Advisor from Auckland Council and Geraldine O’Connor Senior Programs Officer Centre for Local Government

(CLG) and Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG), team leader.

Seminar participants with the Governor of Nara

Prefecture and Mayor of Yamato Takada City. Left to right

Kimberley Wu, Matt O’Mara, Mayor, Governor, Geraldine

O’Connor, Neil Marks, Ian Abbott and Logan Howlett

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What we experienced A broad itinerary was prepared by CLAIR Tokyo office staff and

Yamato Takada City officials which included inspections of:

- Tokyo Imperial Palace

- The Japan Foundation

- Edo Tokyo Museum

- Todaiji Temple

- Senryuji Temple tea ceremony

- Takada Catholic Kindergarten

- Ukiana Elementary School

- Garden of Lismore

- Asuka Village

- Umenoyado Brewery

as well as a Washi Paper Making Workshop and a concert by

Isebella Acappella from Lismore. The team also had courtesy

visits to the Governor of Nara Prefecture and the Mayor of Yamato Takada City, attended a welcome dinner

hosted by Yamato Takada City and a enjoyed a weekend home stay with a host family.

What we shared:

Sister city relations and their impacts The seminar participants shared the value and impacts of Yamato Takada City’s sister city relationship with

Lismore City Council, Australia, through a briefing by City officials. A visit was made to the pre-school

established by Father Glynn from Lismore, which started the sister city relationship over 52 years ago.

We also met with the Sister City Friendship group and shared ideas for extending the impacts of the Sister

City relationship and heard about the benefits of the educational approach for students taken by Yamato

Takada City. Lismore Council is seeking to strengthen the cultural experience for students visiting Lismore.

The City of Cockburn keeps sister city relations visible by displaying public art created by its sister cities.

The city also has a Peace Park in memory of Hiroshima.

ACELG has just completed a report ‘Sister Cities and International

Alliances’ researching types of international relations and the value

of these relations. A copy of the report can be accessed at

http://www.acelg.org.au/publications

Auckland Council has been looking at ways to develop and manage

its 19 international partnerships, some with stronger cultural focus

and others with increased emphasis on business and economic

outcomes. One such initiative is a new tripartite economic alliance

that Auckland established with its two sister cities Guangzhou

(China) and Los Angeles (the US) in 2014.

Attendees at city welcome dinner

Matt O’Mara with host family

Councilor Neil Marks in the Garden of Lismore

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Protection of cultural properties

Australia has thousands of years of indigenous heritage. The aborigines have ‘a relationship to the land’ that

Europeans do not see. The camp sites are reminders of the nomadic life of the Australian aborigines. These

sites are identified through mapping and preserved by keeping the locations secret. The maps are developed

and maintained by the State Government Office of Environment and Heritage. Information about this

cultural heritage can be found at:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nswcultureheritage/AboriginalPeopleAndCulturalLife.htm

And in New Zealand, laws protect the sacred sites of the Maori People and public records and artifacts are

maintained. Auckland Council has a proposed Unitary Plan that protects the city’s natural and built

environment, and established a Heritage Advisory Panel which includes experts, community and land owners.

More information about how Auckland protects its heritage can be found here:

http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/newseventsculture/heritage/Pages/home.aspx

Parts of Australian and New Zealand cities are rich with the remains of over 200 years of European Heritage.

The preservation and ways of presenting cultural artifacts has improved over the years. Sometimes cultural

artifacts are left in the ground and become a feature in new building design.

What we learnt The seminar participants learnt about Japanese culture and

Japan’s determination to expand knowledge of this history and

the thousands of years of stories.

We learnt that sister city relations ‘must always improve’ and

we should return to our countries ‘with a greater

understanding of the possibilities’. Through what we saw and

experienced in Yamato Takada City, we observed the passion

that has driven the city in its work on the sister city

relationship and the protection of cultural properties. These

are the unique points of difference about the city, not only in Japan, but in the world.

Put your hand up Yamato Takada City raised its hand to host the 2015 Local

Government Exchange and Cooperation Seminar. It was a privilege

to visit this City and experience the roots of Japanese history.

The 2015 seminar participants have benefitted from the

opportunity to explore Japanese history and experience Japanese

culture. CLAIR and Yamato Takada City staff created an enriching

experience and provided seminar participants with ‘the

opportunity to see through others eyes’ by meeting the local

people. Australia and New Zealand are closer to Japan as a result

of our participation in the 2015 Local Government Exchange and Co-operation Seminar.

Seminar participants at Asuka Village

with school students

Seminar participants at Todaiji Temple

with Mayor

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2016 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference in Nelson

- registrations now open ~ Article from Lyndal McMeeking, Conference Co-ordinator,

2016 Sister Cities Conference – Nelson ~

The 2016 Sister Cities Conference is a collaborative event facilitated by

Sister Cities New Zealand (SCNZ) & Nelson City as the 2016 conference

hosts. The hosts are pleased to announce that Mary Kane – President and

CEO of Sister Cities International - has accepted the invitation to travel to

Nelson from the USA to deliver a keynote address at this milestone 35th

anniversary conference in April 2016.

New Zealand currently has around 150 sister city relationships with 17

countries around the world, over 40 of these are with Japanese counterparts. Part of the role of SCNZ is to

help facilitate these important links, provide support to organisations & individuals working in this area and

to share best-practice.

The SCNZ conference aims to bring together a vast array of passionate individuals & organisations, including

business groups, grass-root community organisations, schools and education-providers, local & federal

government & non-government organisations. All are involved in promoting people-to-people relations with

international counterparts and fostering global connections. The Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR

Sydney) is a key sponsor.

A number of significant anniversaries will also be celebrated at the conference – not least of which is host

Nelson City’s 40-year anniversary of their relationship with Japanese sister city Miyazu in Kyoto.

The link below will take you to the conference information and registration page.

DATE: 28-30 April 2016

VENUE: Rutherford Hotel Nelson

THEME: “Connecting People – Celebrating our Past, Creating our Future”

WEBSITE:

http://nelson.govt.nz/council/council-structure/council-organisations-2/sister-and-friendly-cities/2016-

sister-cities-conference/

CONNECT WITH US ON FACEBOOK:

https://www.facebook.com/scnz.2016.nelson/

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JETAA NSW Activities ~ Article and photos from JETAA NSW ~

It is hard to believe that 2015 has come and gone so quickly. We started 2015 with a dynamic and enthusiastic

committee, a mixture of long timers and new members. It was also a year which proved how fantastic the

JETAA community was, confirming the importance of cultivating networks at home (whether with other

chapters in Oceania) and abroad. Some highlights from 2015 include:

13th June: Pre-departure orientation One of the key volunteer activities done by JETAA NSW and

was a great opportunity to meet with new JETs and maintain

a connection which will hopefully last until they finish up

and return home from the programme.

For our Q&A, we had a special guest – Ashlie O’Neill, a

currently serving JET in Japan, who joined in via Skype. She

graciously volunteered her time and invaluable knowledge

and experience, which no doubt greatly helped the new

JETs. Ms O’Neill is a member of AJET, which is an

independent, self-supporting volunteer organization that

works in cooperation with the JET Programme, and consists

of currently serving JETs. We’ll be looking forward to future

collaborations with AJET.

18th September: Careers and Networking Night Our Careers and Networking Night has taken several forms over the years, in an effort to keep things fresh

and interesting for our participants. For 2015’s event, we were fortunate to have the support of the Japan

Foundation, which provided a fantastic venue for our event. Our attendees were former JETs (including JETAA

NSW), members of local Japanese cultural groups, and also returnees from the JET Programme. It was our

best turnout so far (a description of which can be found on the Washoku Lover’s blog in Japanese), and may

provide some future opportunities for job-seekers.

4th November: Shaberanaito JETAA NSW also works with other local Japanese cultural groups to combine resources when putting on an

event. One such example is Shaberanaito, which we help run with AJS NSW (Australia Japan Society of NSW).

Taking place four times a year, this brings people together for a night of Japanese language practise at a local

Japanese restaurant, and later prizes would be raffled (which this year consists of tickets to the Japanese Film

Festival courtesy of the Japan Foundation, and a restaurant voucher, thanks to Washoku Lovers).

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12th December: End of Year Cultural and Networking Event We decided to end the year with some style and booked the Angel

Hotel as the venue for our event.

We were very pleased to have the Consul General of Japan as our

special guest, and we hope he and his wife had a great time talking

with members of the JETAA community in Sydney. A pleasant surprise

was meeting an ex-JET who was in the first Sydney group ever to do

the JET Programme, back after her years in Japan. Of course, we made

sure to get her on our official contact list.

What’s Next? We’re still planning for 2016, but it is a remarkable year for two reasons: the 5th anniversary of the Tohoku

Earthquake, and events for the 30th anniversary of the JET Programme in 2017. While it’s early days yet for

the 30th anniversary, for the 5th anniversary, we hope that some of the planning and negotiations that had

begun in 2015 will go ahead as planned in March 2016.

We wish everyone a happy and productive year in 2016 – see you at one of our events!

Introducing Our New intern

Greetings. This is Natsumi Yamashita, and I have been interning at

CLAIR for 3 weeks now. I am an exchange student from Japan, currently

studying at the University of Sydney in the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences. This is my first internship experience as well as studying

abroad for 1 year, and I have been determined to learn and absorb as

much as I can.

Throughout these 3 weeks, I have learnt how to organise my work

schedule by consulting with staff members and also how to critically

analyse information and contribute to the team as a whole.

Researching the amalgamation of councils in NSW has helped me

realise the importance of having a strong engagement with politics at

the local level as a responsible citizen to improve society for the next

generation.

I am sincerely grateful to have had such supportive staff members here. Thanks to their consideration and

guidance, I have been able to sharpen my understanding of the political, social and cultural dynamics in

Australia compared to Japan. I am sure that this unforgettable work experience at CLAIR will be one of the

milestones in my life, and I will dedicatedly cultivate myself so that I can help foster an ideal relationship

between Australia, New Zealand and Japan in the future.

Natsumi Yamashita

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From the Director

5 – Preparing Next Year’s Budget - A Year of Local Governments in Japan

AKEMASHITE OMEDETO! (Happy New Year!)

The financial year in Japan starts in April, so right now every Japanese local government is compiling next

year’s budget. I will give a brief overview of the process of preparing local government budgets.

At first, the mayor outlines the objectives for next year’s budget either in September or October. Then, each

section lays out plans for new projects, estimates the costs for all current and future projects while keeping

in mind the mayor’s objectives, and submits a written request to the finance section in the beginning of

November. Subsequent discussions between sections and the finance section commence and tend to get

quite heated because every section wants funding for their projects while on the other hand, the finance

section wants to reduce expenditures in light of limited revenue.

At the same time, the finance section calculates estimates for local tax revenue, local allocation tax and

subsidies from both central and prefectural governments to set the total budget.

In January, the mayor decides what projects to adopt after listening to both sides. Of course, prior to this, the

finance section would have already rejected many projects.

Preparing the budget is the mayor’s responsibility and assembly members cannot participate, they can only

convey their parties’ requests. The budget bill is submitted to the coming session and the members will

discuss it thoroughly in February and March. This is one of the features of the presidential system which is

adopted in Japanese local governments.

Japan Local Government Centre

(CLAIR, Sydney)

Level 12 Challis House 4 Martin Place Sydney NSW Australia 2000

P: (+61)-2- 9241 5033 F: (+61)-2- 9241 5014

Web: www.jlgc.org.au Email: mailbox@jlgc.org.au

Katsunori Kamibo

Director