The Frankston Susono Friendship Association
(FSFA) Committee have had another very busy year promoting Japanese culture
within the community and ensuring the bond with our sister-city, Susono
continues to flourish.
Frankston has maintained its sister-city
relationship with Susono for more than 42 years because of the hard work and
dedication from past and present committee members from both Frankston and
Susono. I would like to thank all the current committee members for the hard
work they have put in over the past twelve months. This group of dedicated
people have continued to work together to provide engaging Japanese cultural
activities for our community. The committee held a special dinner at a local
Japanese restaurant in February to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of
Frankston’s sister city relationship with Susono.
The committee members have continued to
maintain regular contact with our friends in Susono on the Susono Overseas
Friendship Association (SOFA) via ZOOM meetings every 3 months. As a result of
these ZOOM meetings between the two sister cities, the two organisations have
been able to plan activities together, discuss agenda items and make decisions
together as sister cities, all of which has had a positive outcome for both
organisations. Both FSFA and SOFA also enjoyed celebrating Christmas and New
Year’s together over ZOOM which is wonderful to see. Many thanks to those
committee members for organising these ZOOM meetings and making them happen.
Our committee members can now communicate
with each other via WhatsApp as well as email and phone. The addition of
WhatsApp has strengthened the communication between FSFA members, ensuring
inclusiveness and ensuring even better outcomes when planning and confirming
events.
The committee have continued to support
Derinya Primary School with the annual student cultural exchange program. In
August, Derinya welcomed nine students and two chaperones from Susono and on
October 1st, 2024, 16 children and 4 teachers will be visiting
Susono. Both delegations have homestays for a week which provides them with an
insight into a different culture, as well as making new, life-long friendships.
In September, FSFA held their annual speech
contest where students from local primary and secondary schools had an
opportunity to showcase their Japanese language skills. Historically, this
event has been well attended and therefore will remain on FSFA’s annual
calendar. A special thank you to our panel of judges for assisting at this
year’s contest; the teachers for their hours of hard work preparing their
students; and the parents and families for their attendance, encouragement and
support. Finally, our appreciation to Monash Peninsula Campus for making such a
wonderful venue available to our Association.
In 2023 our FSFA committee introduced taiko
(Japanese drumming) to the community. Taiko drums were made from plastic
rubbish bins for members of FSFA and the community to learn on. In 2024 the
numbers of participants have increased as has the commitment and enthusiasm of
the participants. FSFA decided to purchase and hire taiko drums for the
participants to use which has been a great success. The taiko group have held
“Come ‘N’ Try” days at Ballam Park and also at Frankston Bunnings. Both events
were well received and as an outcome, attracted new members into the group. The
taiko group meet at Frankston High School twice each month. Once for a lesson
given by Toshi Sakamoto, a professional taiko drummer, and the other for a
practice session. The members of the taiko group plan to continue to raise
funds to purchase additional taiko drums by holding a sausage sizzle at
Bunnings in early November.
FSFA plans to continue to support the taiko
classes as it provides another platform for our community to learn about
Japanese culture. The taiko group will be performing at the Bunnings Family
Christmas Night and Cruden Farm’s Christmas Market in December. The group will also
be encouraged to perform at our next Japanese Festival scheduled for August
2025.
FSFA would like to thank Frankston High
School for their support by allowing the taiko group to meet at the school, as
well as supporting FSFA with other events held on-site at the school such as our
Hanami Party in late October and gatherings of FSFA members and friends.
Frankston High School is also home to the
Japanese Garden which was planted many years back by FSFA. The garden is very
beautiful, showcasing Japanese gardens throughout all the seasons. A huge thank
you to Vice-Chairperson Simon Hast for his leadership in maintaining the garden
to such a high standard, and many thanks to the committee members for all their
hard work in assisting with the working bees throughout the year. This year we
also took the opportunity to invite our taiko students to participate in the
working bees that were scheduled prior to the taiko sessions. The students
enjoyed assisting with the working bee and gaining an appreciation of another
aspect of Japanese culture through the garden. Together, with Simon’s
leadership, the garden continues to thrive and look wonderful.
The FSFA committee continue to give up their
time and work together to ensure Frankston and Susono’s sister city
relationship continues. A special thanks to Bev Hannan for continuing to do
such a fantastic job as Treasurer. Bev has been on our committee for 39 years
and is a valued member of our team.
All the committee members have continued to
share their passion and be involved with various activities. In February, Committee
members Ann-Maree Reeve and Peter Bargholz represented FSFA at a party to
celebrate the Japanese Emperor’s birthday, held at Consul-General Shimada’s
home in Toorak. The Acting Mayor of Frankston, Cr. Liam Hughes, was also
present at this special event.
Our FSFA committee members are always looking
for new opportunities to promote Japanese culture and Susono within the
community. Recently, FSFA committee members ran a very successful taiko
workshop for Frankston Council’s school holiday program. The feedback from both
the FSFA committee members and participants attending was very positive, which
is great news. Our committee members also enjoy liaising with other
organisations promoting Japanese culture, and in May committee members
participated in the Box Hill Japanese Festival where they promoted our sister
city relationship with Susono. The booth was well attended with much interest
shown in both FSFA and Susono.
FSFA was honoured to welcome Consul-General
Shimada and Mrs. Shimada, former FSFA Chairperson Peter Patterson and his
special guests, and FSFA Life Members to our September committee meeting. This
was a very special meeting as the Consul-General presented Peter Patterson with
a Japanese Foreign Ministry Commendation Award for his many years of service as
FSFA Chairperson and for promoting Japanese culture within the community. FSFA
thanked Peter for his hard work and leadership whist he was Chairperson, which
ensured the relationship between FSFA and SOFA flourished.
The FSFA committee members presented a slide
show outlining our history, past achievements, present activities, and goals
for the future. The evening was a success thanks to the FSFA committee’s hard
work in preparing for the evening and Frankston City Council’s support with
catering which was enjoyed by all. Consul-General Shimada and his wife were
presented with gifts and honorary FSFA membership certificates. They both
provided positive feedback on all the work FSFA does in promoting Japanese
culture within our community and FSFA was commended for maintaining such a
long-term relationship with Susono.
As the Chairperson of FSFA, I am very proud
of all our committee members and the wonderful work they have been able to
achieve together over the past year. I thank you for giving up your time and
sharing your expertise with the team. Our team maybe small in numbers, but huge
in resources.
Sadly, I inform you that David and Anita
Cross have decided to step down from the FSFA Committee as of October 2024.
David and Anita have been very active members over the years they have been
committee members, and we are very grateful for everything they have done. We
wish them both well for their future endeavours and will miss their company and
support.
On behalf of the FSFA Committee I would like
to thank Frankston City Council for their on-going support, especially Karen
Colquhoun. Karen is instrumental in ensuring our FSFA committee meetings run
smoothly and liaises on the behalf of FSFA with other members of Council.
The coming year looks to be another busy one
for the FSFA Committee with plans to host a delegation from Susono in August to
coincide with a Japanese Festival. Plans and discussions are already in motion
for how we can also assist with supporting a delegation to perform at the 2025 World
Expo in Osaka next year!
I am relocating to Japan later this week to
assist with teaching English to our friends in Susono for a year. SOFA is
assisting with a visa so as I can return to Susono and continue to build on the
wonderful connections that we have all worked so hard to achieve! (Mine
commencing in 1983 as one of the first exchange students to represent Frankston
in Susono).
A huge thank you to Vice Chairperson Simon Hast
for being such a support to myself and the entire team. Simon’s knowledge and
overview of both Frankston and Susono is amazing. He is currently working on updating
the history of our sister city relationship with Susono. Thank you to Therese
Sakamoto for always being on stand-by for interpreting when required with our
friends in Susono. Therese ensures that we can communicate with the SOFA
committee members effectively, and that nothing gets lost in translation!
Thank you to the Bargholz family (Ann-Maree,
Peter and Grace), new members of FSFA committee who have welcomed the committee
into their home to celebrate special occasions, including our Christmas party
and ZOOM session with our friends in SOFA.
And thanks to our other committee members –
Vic Webster, Jorden Lancaster, Anne Grant, Nicole Mahl and Frankston High
School’s representative Cameron Heyes. You are all amazing and your passion for
Japan is infectious, which is why FSFA is so successful! Keep up the great
work. I look forward to 2025 to see what more we can achieve together to share
Japanese culture and promote our sister city relationship with Susono.
Julie D’Arcy
Chairperson
Frankston Susono Friendship Association Inc.