Foreword

The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), was established in 1988 as an organisation to promote internationalisation at the local level on behalf of all Japanese local authorities. Our Sydney office, the Japan Local Government Centre, was opened in 1994 to liaise between regional and local councils in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

One of our Centre's main functions is to provide information of mutual interest to Australian and Japanese State/Local Governments. For this purpose we produce various English and Japanese language publications, including a quarterly newsletter, CLAIR Correspondence , proceedings of the forums we organise, and CLAIR Reports, which are Japanese language publications which convey Australasian policy issues to local authorities in Japan.

The Australia and Japan - Sister Cities International Exchange Report is based on a recent survey and summarises the present status of Australia–Japan sister city affiliations. Our main aim in compiling a report of this nature was to produce a document that would serve to illustrate the current activities and exchanges enjoyed by A ustralian local governments with their Japanese counterparts, and to encourage new ones to be developed. The report is also a useful resource for introducing the merits of sister city affiliations and can act as a means of sharing information and ideas on successful and innovative exchange activities.

The report covers a number of important areas related to international exchange development in Japan. These include: current sister city exchange activities; an overview of the Japanese local government system; and detailed case studies of successful and unique exchange programs.

I would like to acknowledge the work of Mary Samra, Programme Coordinator, who has given much thought to organising the survey, analysing the diverse international exchange programmes and compiling this report. I would also like to express sincere gratitude to the councils and sister city committees, without whose kind cooperation in responding to the survey, this report could not have been produced.

On behalf of CLAIR Sydney, I hope that the responses provided in this report will continue to enhance your understanding of sister city relations and help direct future activities so as to ensure the successful continuation of Australia-Japan friendship relations.

Yoshiyasu Hyotani

Director-General

Please contact the Centre for your FREE copy

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