Initially, the administration of Koshigaya City thought to seek relations with a city on the
opposite side of the world, more specifically, a city in the southern hemisphere with a
latitude and longitude similar to those of Koshigaya. This was then narrowed down to
seeking relations with a city in Australia, and in 1981, the city’s administration contacted
the Australia - Japan Exchange Foundation, which is an agency of the Australian Federal
Government, saying that it wanted to do so.
In April of the following year, the Australia - Japan Exchange Foundation introduced
Koshigaya City to Campbelltown City, and following reciprocal friendship visits by the
mayors of each city and various other persons, a sister city agreement between the two
cities was signed on April 11th, 1984.

Up until now, sister city exchange between Koshigaya City and Campbelltown City has
been carried out in a variety of areas. In Koshigaya, the Sister City Realtions Committee
is actively promoting sister city exchange, and since 1986, delegations of 15 young people
have been sent to Campbelltown every year during the summer holidays, and since 1991,
delegations of 15 second year junior high school students have been sent to Campbelltown
every year during the spring holidays. Similarly, delegations of young people from
Campbelltown visit Koshigaya every year, and take part in exchange with the city’s
residents.
On April 10th, 2000, a ceremony, in which staff from the Australian embassy in Japan and
40 people from Campbelltown City took part, was held in Koshigaya City to commemorate
the 15th anniversary of the founding of the sister city relationship. In the same year,
children from Campbelltown Primary School supported the Japanese athletes competing in
the Sydney Olympics Games, and after the olympic games had finished, sent the supporter
goods they had made to the children at their sister school in Koshigaya, Gamo Daini
Elementary School.
On May 5th, 2002, the sister city exchange between Koshigaya City and Campbelltown City
was acknowledged by the Australian government, and the Australia - Japan Exchange
Foundation, which is one of its agencies, presented letters of recognition to both cities. This
was the first time that such an award had been given to a city in either country.
April 11th, 2004, was the 20th anniversary of the founding of the sister city relationship,
and as well as the commemorative ceremonies that were held in both cities, an event called
Kids 2 Kids was held. For this event, video and audio connections were established between
Koshigaya and Campbelltown, which are 8000km apart, and with the help of interpreters,
200 students from four elementary schools in Koshigaya and four primary schools in
Campbelltown took part, each of which has a sister school in the other city, were able to
exchange opinions in real time about various subjects.
2006 was the Australia-Japan Year Of Exchange. Many events held to celebrate this
memorial year in both countries in 2006. One of these events for Year of Exchange was
“Koshigaya Gala Day” which was held in Campbelltown in October 2006.The members
of Koshigaya Culture Association and Minami-Koshigaya Awa-Odori Association
group visited Campbelltown.Citizens from both city’s enjoyed experiencing
each other’s culture.
As can be seen by these examples, sister city exchange, which is distinctive and unique, has
been actively carried out in a variety of fields, and with the sending of a junior high school
delegation to Campbelltown City in the spring of 2006, the number of people from both cities
who have participated in sister city exchange activities passed 1,400.

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