Air New Zealand flights, Hutt Minoh House, kiwi food, New Zealand wine, studying in Lower Hutt, Canterbury clothing, and holidays downunder made us feel quite at home in Minoh on Sunday 4 October.
Tui Glen School kapa haka performance
Ikumi and Sheena Hirayama talked to hundreds about Lower Hutt and New Zealand.
The New Zealand Autumn Fair was organised by the Minoh City Office, MAFGA and the Hutt Friendship Club to showcase our great country, region and city to their locals. It was attended by NZ travel agents and local companies with New Zealand products and thousands of locals.
Asking around in my best (admittedly limited) Japanese the highlight of the afternoon was Tui Glen School's kapa haka performance on stage.
We also took the opportunity to share a little about life in Lower Hutt and the opportunity to study in our high schools and universities in presentations throughout the afternoon.
While we were out visiting some of the great spots in and around Minoh we chose to use our national flag for our large group to navigate through crowds.
The flag attracted quite a bit of attention from other visitors to Japan around us and offered more viewpoints on our current flag debate. Though that's another blog post entirely!
BY JAMES LAMB, HMHFT SECRETARY