The Japanese Traditional Ensemble of Kawasaki performing in the

Winter Gardens

Since 1990 Sheffield has had a 'friendship agreement' with the City of Kawasaki in Japan.

In November, Sheffield hosted a two day visit by a delegation led by Mr. Takao Abe, the Mayor of Kawasaki City, along with two representatives from Kawasaki City Council and Professor Miyamoto from Senshuu University. The visit was also supported by three representatives from the Japan Local Government Centre in London.

We were also pleased to welcome 15 members of the Japanese Traditional Ensemble of Kawasaki and 23 members of the Sheffield-Kawasaki Friendship delegation.

The visit was timed to celebrate 20 years of friendship between our two cities and the occasion was marked by the renewal of our friendship agreement. While this was an important part of the visit we were also keen to identify potential business opportunities and areas for joint working. Although very different, Kawasaki and Sheffield have similar stories - both cities have an industrial past and in recent years have managed to transform themselves in to places with strengths in areas such as advanced manufacturing and the creative and digital sectors. Both Kawasaki and Sheffield pride themselves as cities with high quality natural and urban environments which make them great places to live, invest and work.

Although there have been few exchanges in recent years, there is great willingness to further develop links between our two cities in order to deliver long term mutual benefits. We are in the early stages of planning a trade mission from Sheffield to Kawasaki which will hopefully take place in February 2011 (to coincide with the Tokyo Nanotech Expo). Sheffield also plans to contribute a number of exhibits for the Sheffield Photo Exhibition which will be held at the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall in March 2011.

Michael Hellewell - Policy Officer