Sister Cities
The Whakatane District Sister Cities Association has two Sister City relationships - one with Kamagaya in Japan and the other with Warwick in Australia. It also has a Friendship Agreement with Kita Tachibana (now Shibukawa City) in Japan.
The Association meets on a six-weekly basis and holds its Annual General Meeting in September of each year. Members of the public are welcome to attend and contribute to the meetings.
The dates of the meetings are listed in the Whakatane District Council's monthly meeting schedule. Click here to view meeting dates.
Each year the Association offers a Y12 or 13 student a scholarship of $1,000 to spend time in Kamagaya and learn more about the Japanese language and culture. The scholarship is offered towards the end of the first term of school, but the trip can be taken at any time.
Scholarship criteria click on link for further details. What do you need to do - Click here to view. The closing date for 2008 is 6 June.