Mishima High School party resumes Japanese Sister City Study Exchanges
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Twenty-two students and a teacher from Mishima High School in Takatsuki, Japan today (July 25) were welcomed to Toowoomba City Hall at a Mayoral reception marking the resumption of Study Exchanges between the Sister Cities.
Toowoomba Region Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald, Councillors and Study Toowoomba Deputy Chair Kym Schultz welcomed the students, aged from 15 to 18, along with Mishima English teacher, Mr Hiroshi Ikeda, who are visiting on a Study Exchange until July 31.
Mayor McDonald said the latest delegation was the ninth party to undertake a Study Exchange from Mishima High School in Toowoomba’s Sister City, Takatsuki, since the formal establishment of the Sister City Agreement in November 1991.
“On behalf of Council and our Region’s residents, I welcome you to Australia’s Garden City and our wider Region,” Mayor McDonald said.
“I welcome you as the first Study Exchange group from Mishima High School since 2019, following the break due to Covid restrictions. Your party takes the number of students who have joined one of the Study tours to 227 participants.
“Our Declaration of Friendship agrees to deepen our relationship through mutually beneficial exchanges in the educational, cultural, sporting and commercial arenas.
“Toowoomba and Takatsuki have enjoyed a mutually beneficial arrangement with many exchanges occurring over the years, including student study tour exchanges.
“There is no better way to enhance your language and cultural studies than by escaping the classroom and experiencing life with Australian students and their families.”
Mayor McDonald expressed his thanks to the delegation’s host school, Wilsonton State High School, with additional support from the Australia Japan Study Programme for the first time.
“The success of these visits lies is in the personal exchanges between the students and staff from Wilsonton State High School and the host families with the visiting delegation,” Mayor McDonald said.
“Our Region enjoys a strong relationship with Takatsuki and Japan. It is a friendship that we value deeply and one we celebrate again today.”
The Mishima High School delegation will take part in daily school activities with designated students and additional English as a Second Language activities covering agriculture, art, Indigenous studies, Australian culture and food.
Takatsuki, with a population of 355,000 people, is located halfway between Osaka and Kyoto in the southern section of the Honshu Island of Japan.
Caption: Toowoomba Region Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald, Deputy Mayor Cr Rebecca Vonhoff and Cr Melissa Taylor welcome the Mishima High School delegation and supporters at Toowoomba City Hall.