200415PBEndo. VIP VISITORS: Photographed during a tour of Summerset in Wanganui East are (from left) Isao Mizoguchi (Nagaizumi Town Council Chairman), Dale Clouston of Summerset, Hideo Endo (mayor of Nagaizumi-cho), Kohei Yamakawa (interpreter) and Terry Fleming. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS
200415PBEndo. VIP VISITORS: Photographed during a tour of Summerset in Wanganui East are (from left) Isao Mizoguchi (Nagaizumi Town Council Chairman), Dale Clouston of Summerset, Hideo Endo (mayor of Nagaizumi-cho), Kohei Yamakawa (interpreter) and Terry Fleming. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS
The mayor of Wanganui's Japanese sister city, Nagaizumi-cho, recently visited and, as part of his duties, assisted at the opening of the Japanese Tea House in its new location at Bason Botanic Gardens. Hideo Endo, although only recently elected mayor, has a long association with Wanganui, dating back to when thesister city idea was first mooted. Along the way he has made some good friends in Wanganui, among them Terry Fleming. "I was tasked with getting the thing set up," says Terry, who, in 1987, was Wanganui District Council promotions officer. He progressed to marketing and, by the time he retired, was Community and Economic Development Manager. "Ted Fox, who was town planner, and some other officers went down to the Japanese Embassy in about 1985," says Terry. They explained their interest in setting up a sister city relationship with a community of a similar size in Japan. "Out of the blue, about 16 months later, we received a letter from the embassy." The message suggested Nagaizumi as a suitable match. "Ted gave it to me and asked me to develop it from there," he says. "I had a fellow in the Nagaizumi-cho office to deal with and I put it to Council. "Within a week it was resolved we investigate it. I went down to the post office and sent a fax to Japan." Communication from Japan was slow as everything had to be approved by committee. Mutual visits were planned, in spite of Council objections. Hideo Endo, a prominent Nagaizumi-cho businessman, was part of the Japanese delegation and this was the first time he had ever been out of his homeland. "He had no English and we had no Japanese," says Terry. In spite of that, Terry Fleming and Hideo Endo became good friends over the years, visiting each other regularly and staying in each others' homes. "Since I've finished work I've been up there a number of times," says Terry. When Hideo visited last week, Terry picked him up from the airport and, with Dale Clouston, gave him a guided tour of Summerset where he lives.
