“It was a very, very fruitful and prosperous trip and hopefully a economically beneficial visit, we are going to continue to strengthen and foster that relationship,” Cr Kettle said.

 Cr Kettle said he would meet with a significant local business this week to discuss trade options between the City and Shibetsu.

 “I had meetings with a business person over there who is importing goods out of Melbourne and I have meetings this week with a significant business in Goulburn to see if we can’t shift importation to Goulburn which would be a significant economic boost,” he hinted.

 Council will also front a new cultural exchange program – open to staff, students and everyday citizens.

 A Japanese garden will be created in one of the local parks and across the ocean Shibetsu will in return have a Goulburn Rose Garden near their council chambers.

 Cr Kettle, Deputy Mayor Bob Kirk, Cr Carol James, Cr Margaret O’Neill, Corporate Services Director Brendan Hollands and trainee administrative support officer engineering Andrew McDowell made the trip on July 8.

 Cr Kirk said while Japan was not initially on his bucket list, he would not hesitate in going back.

 “It’s terribly interesting and completely different to what we are accustomed to, and that’s what these things are about,” he said.

 “It’s about us going and seeing how another part of the world community exists and broadening our outlooks. We can learn a lot from their sense of responsibility, community pride, integrity, honour and tradition.”

 While abroad, the local delegates were treated to traditional banquets, a fundraising dinner and even a spot of golf in their down time.

 He said the troupe was treated like royalty during their short stay and were “overwhelmed” by the hospitable kindness.

 “One of the things that I’ve always advocated is the notion of community pride. If I can get Goulburn to achieve the levels of community pride that Shibetsu showed us, I would be ecstatic… “I made notes everywhere I went of things so I wouldn’t forget.”

 Of interest to Mr Hollands was the operation of Shibetsu Council. He said while there were many similarities between Goulburn Mulwaree and Shibetsu councils, there were some mind-blowing differences too.

 “As a staff member I took the opportunity to look around Shibetsu Council and look at the way they operate in the way of office layouts, department structure and whilst similar in certain aspects there were certainly some differences,” he explained.

 He said the greatest eyeopener was the sheer mass of the Council’s budget – to the tune of some $300 million – which is used to fund the hospital and public transport among other services.

 He said the focus for Council now will be to strengthen the cultural exchange.

 “Of major importance is the cultural exchanges and a few other little things like potentially sharing links on websites, sharing information in tourist offices and ensuring those cultural links continue and are built upon,” he said.

 “We’ve now got contact with the staff where we can contact them and bounce ideas off them. Four days unfortunately is not a great amount of time but it’s given us great ideas to build on.”