Ngā Piringa Tāone
Sister City relationships are created to connect communities from different walks of life. Masterton Whakaoriori has relationships with Changchun (China) and Hatsukaichi (Japan). We also have a Friendship City relationship with Armidale (Australia).
Changchun
Changchun is a city of 9 million people in north-eastern China. It’s renowned for its vehicle and train construction industries and world-class sculpture park that covers 90+ hectares.
Don and Lorna Simpson (teachers from Wairarapa College) went to teach at Jilin University in 1977, a time when China was just opening itself to the West. Following their time in Changchun, a Sister Cities Agreement was signed. Most years a small group of government officials and business people will visit Masterton.
Local artists including Roger Thompson and Sam Ludden have attended international sculpture symposia there, and in 1980 Sam created a sculpture based on tuna (eels) in the shape of a traditional Māori net. It now has pride of place beside the central lake in the sculpture park.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were regular teacher exchanges, with educators coming from China to learn about our education system, and teachers from the Wairarapa spending several weeks teaching across several schools and year groups, sharing knowledge about New Zealand and our culture in return.
To celebrate the 30 years of the relationship Mayor Lyn Patterson planted a tree in Changchun and Changchun donated authentic roof tiles to build a Chinese Pavilion in the Kuripuni park. This green space also has plantings from our other sister cities, for example, cherry trees planted by Hatsukaichi students from Japan.
Starting in 2023, following the end of Covid restrictions, the Sister City relationship between Masterton and Changchun has resumed.
Hatsukaichi
Hatsukaichi is a city of around 115,000 people in the Hiroshima prefecture.
Our relationship with the city is the result of a friendship built between former Mayor Bob Francis and Mr Nakamoto Senior of Woodone Japan.
Woodone is the parent company of Juken NZ and Hatsukaichi is their home port. Juken is a significant asset to the Wairarapa region and, prior to Covid, there was a bi-annual exchange with a small group of students from Hatsukaichi and St Matthews Collegiate.
Starting in 2023, following the end of Covid restrictions, the Sister City relationship between Masterton and Hatsukaichi has resumed. The video shows some tourist highlights of the prefecture, after viewing you can complete a short survey about your tourism intentions.
