The delegation leaves on July 6 and will comprise Mayor Geoff 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.

Cr Kettle said he was looking forward to visiting Japan.

“Shibestu is a few hours north of Sapporo the capital of Hokkaido, so there are a lot of geographical similarities, such as the distance between Sydney and Goulburn and the rural location,” Cr Kettle said.

“While it is a rural area, Shibetsu is also a diverse regional centre. Yamaha has a test track near there.

“The main industries are sugar-beet industry and salmon, scallop, trout fishing as well as shellfish farming.”

The region is also known for its sheep farming.

“They have a museum and restaurant up on a hill – a bit like Rocky Hill. They run a few hundred Suffolk Sheep there and have a wool museum,” Mayor Kettle said.

Mayor Kettle said Japanese councils have more responsibilities than Australian councils.

“The Shibetsu City Council also looks after health, welfare and the police. They do more than NSW Councils.

Their councillors are professionally paid.

“They also have an active Chamber of Commerce.

“Hokkaido Island is close to Russia. Traditionally they were settled by Russia, so there are still remnants of Russian culture there.

“There is usually about 3m of snow there in winter, but the delegation is going in July, which is their summer.”

Goulburn Mulwaree community services manager Jim Styles has been to Shibetsu in 1996. Mr Styles said a delegation from Shibestu first visited Goulburn in 1992.

“In 1996 we sent a delegation there, and again in 1999, which is when we formalised the Sister City agreement,” Mr Styles said.

“There is a copy of this agreement in the glass cabinets near Council Chambers.

They have been coming every few years since. They also made a great effort to come here for our 150th Birthday, so we thought it would be appropriate to reciprocate.”

Mr Styles said Councillors and Council staff were paying their own air fare and accommodation expenses.

“Shibetsu representatives will collect the delegation from Sapporo Airport and take them to Shibetsu. They have an itinerary planned with inspections and meetings on every day. There are also functions to attend most nights. The group will be there for five days,” he said.

Mr Styles said a student exchange program had been happening between the two cities for some time, between students from Mulwaree High and Shibetsu High and that this provided a valuable cultural exchange.

“We want to build up a relationship between each of our three local high schools, so they can all have the opportunity to participate in the student exchange program and go to Japan.

“It has mainly been Mulwaree High, but the last few delegations of students from Shibetsu have spent time in all three Goulburn high schools,” he said.

• Shibetsu is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.

• As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 22,859 and the density of 20.4 persons per km². The total area is 1119.29 km².

• The name comes from the Ainu meaning great river.

• The city was founded on July 1, 1954.

• It is located only about 800km east from Vladivostok.

• It does not have a big ram.