On May 31, a delegation from Kahoku's sister city of Messkirch, Germany, came to Kahoku and paid their respects in Kahoku City Hall. The group of 21 around Delegation Leader Mayor Arne Zwick, 35, consists of people of different ages and with a broad range of professions such as city council members, a dentists, and students. This is the most people to visit since the city of Kahoku was formed three years ago.

Mayor Zwick and nine other delegation members will stay until June 4, while the remaining 11 members will stay until June 8, doing homestay, visiting junior high schools and a company as well as interact with the locals.

Kahoku City Hall, Mayor Waichiro Aburano greeted the delegation and welcomed them with the words, "I would like you to exchange with the citizens and deepen your understanding of Kahoku." Mayor Zwick said in his address, "Through the visit we want to promote the relations between our cities."

On June 1, the delegation members are going to visit the local textile company Kinbo Knit, Unoke Junior High School and the Nishida Kitaro Museum of Philosophy.

The two cities became sister cities in 1985, when Kahoku City was still Unoke Town. The exchange came naturally, as both are the birthplaces of world-renowned philosophers, Unoke with Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945) and Messkirch with Martin Heidegger (1889-1976).

A delegation from Kahoku's sister city of Messkirch, Germany, arrived in Kahoku on the evening of May 31 and received a welcome from their host families.

Delegation Leader Mayor Arne Zwick gave a panel with a poem of philosopher Martin Heidegger as a gift, and everybody enjoyed the stage performance of the local Shinbuyo Dance Association. The visitors include 12 people of the Mayor's Delegation around Delegation Leader Mayor Zwick, and 9 people of the Adult Exchange Program.

In City Hall they were welcomed by Mayor Waichiro Aburano, and Mayor Zwick said in his address he was "looking forward to the exchange." The delegation members met the 10 host families, and, while having a nice chat with them, enjoyed the beautiful performances of the Nagisa Dance Association.

The Mayor's Delegation, who will stay until June 4, and the Adult Exchange Program group, who will stay until June 8, will also visit the Noto Peninsula and Kanazawa.

The delegation from Kahoku's German sister city of Messkirch (Mayor Arne Zwick and 20 more people) that is visiting Kahoku visited communal facilities and a company in the city on June 1.

In Unoke Junior High School, which was rebuilt last spring, Principal Noriko Nishikawa stated that among the Junior High School exchange group members who were dispatched to Messkirch last July, 5 were students of the school, and expressed her appreciation by saying, "We owe the people of Messkirch our obligations for the homestay." As special features of the school she explained about the strong kendo club that attends national conventions, and that the school was designed considering handicapped persons and the environment. The delegation members showed interest in the glass-walled teachers' office, which can be viewed from the hallway, and the bright classrooms with their big windows.

The group also stopped in for a visit at the multidiscipline local sports club Club Let's, and Manager Takayuki Nishimura among other things introduced the ongoing exchange with the club ESV Muenchen in Munich in Germany, where sports club activities coached by locals are common practice.

On June 2, the group is going to visit Kanazawa and take a look at the Hyakumangoku parade of the Kanazawa Hyakumangoku Festival. Ten delegation members, including Mayor Zwick, will stay in Kahoku until June 4, with the remaining 11 members staying until June 8.

On the evening of June 1, the delegation of 21 from Kahoku's sister city of Messkirch in Germany that is visiting Kahoku gave cooking tempura, sushi and other Japanese dishes a try at the houses of their host families.

In the house of Setsuko Nakada (54), a member of Kahoku's Board of Education, landscape architect Christian Ott (34) and dentist Andrea Golz (27) made tempura. They made and tasted fried sweet potatoes, shrimp, eggplant and other dishes using chopsticks.

On June 2, the group visited the Kanazawa Hyakumangoku Festival.