Sponsorship of Clarence School Visits to Akkeshi, Japan

Council's scholarship supporting Clarence school visits to Akkeshi will open on Friday 15 February and close on Wednesday 30 April. The purpose of the scholarship is to enhance community ties with the sister city of Akkeshi, Japan by encouraging cultural exchanges among youth.

A total of $10,000 is available for travel in 2009. The scholarships can be shared among more than one successful applicant school.

Twenty students and three teachers from Rose Bay High School will travel to Akkeshi with the help of a Clarence City Council scholarship in June.

Download the sponsorship policy and application form.

About Akkeshi

Akkeshi is a town on the South East Coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, with a population of 12800 people.

The life and history of the town is closely linked to the sea and to the surrounding farming areas. The sister city relationship between Clarence and Akkeshi is based on historical and geographical grounds.

Historically the association can be linked to the whaling ship Lady Rowena ex Clarence which put ashore at Kiritappu for supplies in 1831 however, if this is not accepted in the records for "first" or "earliest", Clarence can claim that on 16 April 1850 a whaling ship, the Eamont, registered in Hobart, was wrecked two kilometres off Mabiro Beach, Akkeshi. The thirty-two man crew was rescued by the people of Akkeshi and cared for until they could be repatriated back to Australia. This is believed to be one of the earliest Australia-Japan links.

Geographically Akkeshi and Clarence have many similarities. Both are located on the 43rd parallel and both have a close affinity with surrounding waterways. Akkeshi is located on the northern island of Japan while Clarence is located in the southern most state of Australia and both have close associations with ships, fishing and aquaculture.

A Japanese writer researching early links was asked by the City of Akkeshi to explore possible twin sister links when she visited Tasmanian in 1979.

The relationship was formalised with the signing of a sister-city agreement at a special meeting of the Clarence Council attended by the Mayor of Akkeshi on 9 February 1982.

There is a regular exchange of letters on appropriate occasions and a regular exchange of copies of newsletters. Greater activity is adversely influenced by distance, language and finances however, the establishment of internet websites for both Akkeshi and Clarence will expand the opportunities for greater contact.

While the direct association between Akkeshi and Clarence goes back 21 years and in that time groups from Akkeshi have made visits to Clarence, the visit by a party of 34 to Akkeshi in June 1997 was the first time a group visit was made.

In each of the years between 1992 and 2001, children from Akkeshi have visited Clarence with the ladies from the Iris Club of Akkeshi and have created a continuing friendship that was evident during the visit by the Clarence group to Akkeshi.

Recent years have seen the establishment of a number of sister-school relationships develop between schools in the two cities.

For more information phone 6245 8651.