THE NAME Chiryu might not mean much to you, but for the City of Wyndham it represents a wonderful relationship and the possibility for growth.
Chiryu, a city located towards the south of Japan is Wyndham’s sister city
This year marks the 10 year anniversary of the sister city relationship between Chiryu and Wyndham.
To mark the special anniversary Wyndham’s Mayor, Heather Marcus, and a handful of delegates from the Council visited the city to participate in a cultural exchange.
Cr Marcus said she felt honoured to be able to represent Wyndham in the foreign city.
“We all really enjoyed it,” Cr Marcus said.
“They treated us like royalty.”
But while the two cities may share a special relationship, the similarities end there.
While Wyndham was founded way back in 1862, Chiryu has only been an official city since December 1970.
Wyndham has nine councillors to govern a population of around 120,000 people, while Chiryu has 23 councillors for a population of under 70,000.
Cr Marcus said it was important for Wyndham to continue to learn from their sister city.
“I think that we should work even closer with the Chiryu to develop better relationships with their schools,” she said.
“My dream is to be able to have an exchange student system between Melbourne and Chiryu.”
The trip marked the 10 year anniversary of the sister city relationship as well as the 20 year anniversary of the Chiryu international committee and 40 years since the city was founded.
Ratepayers will be happy to know that the councillors footed the bill for the trip themselves.
