Japanese visitors renew Motueka links

BY ELISE VOLLWEILER

As Motueka’s 22nd Kiyosato exchange student counts down the final days before he returns to Japan, any creeping homesickness has been abated by a visit from some schoolmates from back home.

Sixteen of Aito Kashiwabara’s fellow Kiyosato High School schoolmates travelled to Motueka earlier this month, accompanied by two of their teachers and two Board of Education staff members.

Aito, 16, says that he was very happy to see his classmates again, as he had not been in touch with them for a long time.

The group, with students aged 13 to 16, was in the area for five days. They attended a carving unveiling at their namesake garden in Motueka, visited Motueka High School and squeezed in a visit to Pics Peanut Butter World on their way back out of town.

The Japanese group also visited Lower Moutere School, an amalgamation that was “extremely well received by both schools” according to Motueka’s Mary Lafrentz, who hopes it will spark interest in the exchange for the next generation of students.

Mary has been on the Friendly Town committee since it was established almost 40 years ago, and she too has accompanied some large groups from Motueka to Kiyosato. She says that the programme offers incredible benefits to the students.

“It teaches them that the world is their oyster and it’s not as big as it seems, and it’s not as scary as it seems.”

Motueka has a long-standing relationship with the Japanese town of Kiyosato, which is located on the island of Hokkaido and has a population of about 4200 people.

The two towns’ Friendly City arrangement was formally signed in 1997, but began in 1994 when Kiyosato High School hosted its first Motueka High School student.

The following year, the first Kiyosato student travelled to Motueka High School, and Mary says that the schools generally tried to send one student each year to immerse themselves in their host town’s culture.

One of the visiting students was even turning it into something of a family tradition – she was following in the footsteps of her aunty, who had been an exchange student to Motueka many years prior.

This year, Year 13 student Cassius Drewery, 17, has travelled from Motueka to Kiyosato and is due to return home in November. Aito is to return to Japan at the end of September and says he is looking forward to eating Japanese food again.

“Life in Motueka has been wonderful and has had a great impact on my life,” he says. “Motueka is another home for me.”

New Zealand and Japan have more than 40 Sister City and Friendship City links, beginning with Christchurch and Kurashiki City in 1973.