2015 marks the 20th year of friendship and cooperation with Minoh City. We are fortunate to be able to celebrate this milestone in each city this year after Mayor Kurata came to Lower Hutt in February with a group of 22 from Minoh. Tomodachi Day saw hundreds attend the ceremony and share in Japanese culture in Lower Hutt.
Many who are connected to Lower Hutt and New Zealand from in and around Minoh gathered to join an official commemoration of the anniversary including Mark Sinclair, the New Zealand Ambassador to Japan. Read his post on the NZ Embassy Facebook page.
Ray Wallace speaks at the 20th anniversary of cooperating cities
Our group grew to 34 visiting from the Hutt for the official celebration on Sunday 4 October and we were treated to Taiko drumming, dancing, singing andand were impressed by the Minoh-based Hutt Club learning a waiata to sing for us.
Each of us received a certificate of appreciation from Minoh City Mayor Tetsuro Kurata. It as unexpected and very special.
Read more about this on the Minoh City blog - in Japanese.
The ceremony was followed by the New Zealand Autumn Fair - more in my next blog post.
BY JAMES LAMB, HMHFT SECRETARY