Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme (MINTEX) 2016

Lower Hutt and Minoh City celebrated the 20th Anniversary of their Sister City relationship in October 2015.  During these celebrations Mayor Wallace and Mayor Kurata signed an agreement to formalise the establishment of the Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme (MINTEX). The purpose of this exchange was to provide an opportunity for local teachers to experience educational similarities and differences between the school systems; to embrace the culture and lifestyles in each country and to foster a deeper intercultural understanding and active global citizenship and engagement between the Sister Cities. 

Hutt City Council and Minoh City Office have worked together to establish this exchange.

Two Lower Hutt teachers will travel to Minoh in October 2016 for two weeks to co-teach English and New Zealand Culture in selected schools.  To ensure they learn about the Japanese lifestyle and culture, they will be home hosted during their stay.  They will also reciprocate the hospitality when two teachers come to Lower Hutt in 2017 on the return exchange. 

Managed by Linda Goss-Wallace, Projects Manager at Hutt City Council, the MINTEX working group is pleased to announce the two delegates selected to participate in the inaugural Hutt to Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme are: Ardis O’Connor and Michelle Gibson.

 Ardis O’Connor & Michelle Gibson

ArdisOConnor
MichelleGibson

Ardis teaches at Raphael House Rudolph Steiner School in Lower Hutt.

He has been teaching since 1999 and is married with three grown children. Ardis enjoys astronomy, history, music, arts and the great outdoors in Lower Hutt especially mountain biking and kayaking. 

In 1994-1996 Ardis was a JET Assistant English Teacher at the three Junior High Schools in Nihon Matsu, Fukushima and speaks some Japanese.

Michelle is an Early Childhood Teacher who has been teaching for 11 years and based in Lower Hutt. She is married to Michael and mother of 17 year old identical twin boys and very passionate about teaching children. She has always had an interest in travelling but has never been to Japan. She enjoys outdoor activities, music, dance and rugby.

Ardis and Michelle will be fundraising for their exchange this year and hosting the Minoh teachers in 2017, so please support them and have some fun as well.  Details of fundraising activities will be posted on this website.

Hutt art on it's way to Minoh

Minoh and Lower Hutt are to exchange artworks for reciprocal exhibitions in each city this year and next.

This followed an introduction when Minoh Art Association President and fellow members were in Lower Hutt in February 2015 to celebrate the 20 year sister city relationship between the two cities.

It was agreed to exchange 25 artworks between the two creative organisations to grow further exchange between Lower Hutt and Minoh.

Final steps were made in March to complete the collection of 25 artworks donated by Hutt Art Centre members to be sent to Minoh City, Japan.  David Balm and Iris Kauffeld, Gallery Manager; photographed above, catalogued and packed the artworks for transportation in time for the 60th anniversary celebrations of Minoh City in June 2016.

The Hutt Minoh Friendship Trust supported the project with a grant to help transport the artworks to Japan.

The catalogue of works will be available shortly to be viewed at Hutt Art Centre.

The Minoh Art Association are planning to send a reciprocal exhibition to Lower Hutt to be shown at the Hutt Art Centre in April 2017.

BY DAVID BALM, PRESIDENT, HUTT ART SOCIETY

A taste of Japanese martial arts

We had a fantastic day for our Japanese Martial Arts Expo on Sunday, March 20 with almost 80 visitors on top of all our demonstrators and helpers.

First time demonstrators were Cam Findlay from the Wellington Iaido Club and members of the Wellington Naginata Club. Most representatives of the two clubs are also members of Yoshinkan Kendo Club – Hutt.

We were delighted to welcome Miho Maeda from Minoh who has just arrived in New Zealand from Japan. She has been a regular visitor to Minoh House over many years.

Other exhibitors were the Wellington Kyudo Club (based at Minoh House), Hutt City Aikido and Yoshinkan Kendo – Hutt.

POST BY ROSEMARY McLENNAN

Minoh must-do: Katsuo-ji Temple

High up in the hills behind Minoh I was lucky enough to visit Katsuo-ji Temple. 

This is a Buddhist Temple that is said to have hosted supreme rulers across various periods in history to worship and pray for fortune in war and it is now known as a the temple of good luck. The word "katsu" in the temple's name refers to winning.

We each got a daruma dolls hoping to obtain "winner's luck". A local monk explained the significance of the dolls and custom of drawing in the facial patterns, giving thanks, lighting an incense stick and immersing it in your wish. And through that process found some further inner calm.

Dozens of daruma dolls returned to the temple after wishes have come true.

I've now got it in the lounge so I can focus on my wish and make it come true. When the wish is fulfilled, I'm invited like other visitors to return my daruma to the temple and have it placed somewhere on the grounds as a gesture of thanks.

We visited at the tail end of summer and although the leaves were still very much green the bold colours this temple offered was impressive.

This temple and its environ is as good as (in fact, better than) any of the photos I've seen of this Temple across the four seasons of snow, Autumn reds and Spring greens! Try a google image search on Katsuoji Temple now.

Make sure you leave a good couple of hours to create your own daruma and soak up this beautiful place. Get there by Hankyu bus or a taxi - 15 mins from Minoh Station.

Katsuo-ji Temple on Tripadvisor

Katsuo-ji Temple official website

 

BY JAMES LAMB, HMHFT SECRETARY

 

 

NZ's first public Kyudo Dojo here at Minoh House

GUEST BLOG BY SUE LYTOLLIS

The first public Kyudojo in New Zealand opened on 27 September at the Hutt Minoh Friendship House Spring Festival. It is managed by the Wellington Kyudo Club. 

New Zealand now has an official 28m Kyudo shooting range complete with wooden shooting platform and a tidy wooden path to reach spent arrows. The Hutt Minoh Kyudojo now has 10 members with ages ranging from 10 to over 60.

"We enjoy the beautiful surroundings of our dojo, a place to rest our minds and practice the beauty of Kyudo in New Zealand," says Ms Okazaki.

Celebrating this historic event were founder Satsuki Okazaki from Kyoto, nidan having learnt Kyudo for 17 years. In 2003 Satsuki came to New Zealand and started Kyudo practice at the Randwick Archery club. In August 2004 Satsuki was asked to perform Kyudo at a Budo event hosted by the Hutt Minoh Friendship house and this began a strong relationship with this house and it's beautiful grounds. Soon the club had moved to the grounds of this Friendship house and members of the club were growing. 

Ms Okazaki recalled the Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand, His excellency Mr Saito seeing a demonstration the club gave at an event in Hutt city in 2005. "He sent our club a letter of congratulations and gave us a bottle of Sake, it meant a lot," says Ms Okazaki. She said in the early days, the Japan Information and Cultural Centre provided a great deal of support to her club, too. 

The club may not have been formed without the persistent requests from Ms Okazaki's first student. He was an American man called Olatunji who had dreamed of doing Kyudo since he was much younger and had seen a Kyudojo in America. Mr Olatunji moved to NZ and while taking Archery at the Randwick Club saw Ms Okazaki doing Kyudo. "Ola san saw me at the Randwick club and kept asking me to teach him, but as a typical Japanese bushi (martial artist) with only nidan (second level black belt grade) I kept refusing," says Ms Okazaki. "Then he asked me to buy him a bow and his equipment. When it arrived he then said, well now I have it, please teach me how to use it!"

Mr Olatunji, who is currently the Director of the NZ Acupuncture School has also grown in his study of Kyudo to reach 4th dan black belt, now he is the highest graded Kydosha (practitioner of Kyudo) in Wellington and the President of this Dojo. 

From these humble beginnings and the support of other kiwi Martial Artists who encouraged Ms Okazaki to teach local people what she knew, this Kyudo club has blossomed. So it was serindipidous that it was under the blossoms of the beautiful Spring festival that this historic event took place.  

Post Scriptum:  The Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust has supported the establishment of this dojo through a grant to the Wellington Kyudo Club who have constructed it (with input from Hutt City Council) and continue to manage it.