group of junior high school students from Messkirch, the German sister city of Kahoku, arrived in Kahoku on October 22. The group will stay in Kahoku until the 30^th, making homestay, visiting the Unoke, Takamatsu and Kahokudai Junior High Schools and experiencing Japanese culture while exchanging with the locals. The group of 18 people consists of 16 junior high school students from Messkirch and two junior high school teachers.

On October 22, the introduction ceremony of the group and the host families was held at Nanatsuka Health and Welfare Center in Kahoku. After greeting each other with a smile, the group members sat together with their host families during the ceremony.

After Mayor Waichiro Aburano said he wished for the group to "come in contact with the citizens and experience the advantages of Kahoku," Lothar Fix, the delegation leader and junior high school teacher from Messkirch, expressed his anticipation toward the exchange, namely that the "experiences to be made here, which the general tourist can't make, will become a lifelong treasure for the students." The group will visit Unoke Junior High School on October 22, where they will experience lessons and club activities.

The last visit of a junior high school student group from Messkirch had taken place in March of 2005.  In July 2006, a Kahoku junior high school student group had visited Messkirch and deepened relations there.

Kahoku continues the history of its predecessor, the town of Unoke, which became a sister city with Messkirch in 1985. Kahoku renewed the affiliation in July 2004, shortly after the former towns of Takamatsu, Nanatsuka and Unoke merged and the city of Kahoku came into existence. As in the past, the relationship between the towns includes vivid mutual visits.

On October 23, the visiting group of youths from Kahoku's German sister city of Messkirch experienced lessons and club activities at Unoke Junior High School.

The group of 18 people, consisting of 16 junior high school students and two escorting teachers, made a field trip to the prefecturally designated historic site of Omi Nishiyama Yayoi no Sato Monument Park in Setomachi in Kahoku, where city employees and members of the Association for International Exchange acted as guides.

At Unoke Junior High School, in addition to partaking in music and English classes, the group came in contact with the traditional culture of Japan by trying their hands at a koto performance. Earlier, the group had met Mayor Waichiro Aburano at Unoke Labor and Youth Home. On October 24, the group will attend the presentation of the Research Group for English Activities that is being held at Kanazu Elementary School.

The 16 junior high school students from Messkirch in Germany, who are currently visiting Kahoku, visited Unoke Junior High School on October 23 and cultivated friendship, overcoming the linguistic barrier.

At the ninth graders' elective music lesson, they jointly gave playing the koto a shot, and 15 female students initiated four Messkirch city junior high school students into the playing of "Sakura Sakura."

The local junior high school students took the lead, actively saying "together" and other English words they knew and communicating with gestures, while the junior high school students from Messkirch tried hard to improve and harped the strings with enthusiasm. The other 12 Messkirch junior high school students enjoyed a match with the members of the softball club.

On October 24, the Messkirch city youth group will interact with Kahoku's Kanazu Elementary School children.

On October 26, the youth group of Kahoku's sister city of Messkirch, which is currently visiting, spontaneously attended the culture festival at Kahokudai Junior High School and deepened relations with the students.

The visitors were welcomed by traditional dances performed by Akino Ienaka (Grade 8) and Yume Nosaki (Grade 7) as well as a violin performance by Takashi Tachibana (Grade 7). In front of about 400 people, the 16 junior high school students from Messkirch introduced a dance from their home country.

At the culture festival of the school, which had started that day, original plays by the different grades were performed and a speech contest was held, and on October 27 there will be a chorus contest and a brass band club concert.

Two members of the youth group from Messkirch that is currently visiting Kahoku tasted sweet potatoes made from the local specialty "Kahokkuri" at their host family's house on October 27.

The two are Lorena Weisshaupt, 16, and Viola Hipp 15. To give them the chance to get to know the local specialties during their stay at his house in Kizu in Kahoku, company employee Atsushi Hashimoto, 38, treated them to this dinner.

The exotic style might have been the reason for the initial hesitation of the two, but when the family members encouraged them to taste, they smiled and said it was "sweet and delicious." It seems they have found another appealing aspect of the "town of philosophy."

On October 30, the youth group from Messkirch, Germany, the sister city of Kahoku, had completed their schedule of stay and returned to their home country full of memories of their exchanges with the locals. In the city hall a returning-home ceremony was held, and the group was seen off by around 50 city employees and host family members.

At the returning-home ceremony, Mayor Aburano said in his speech that he intended to "further deepen the exchange in the future," and the host families saw the group members off in a fond farewell. At the farewell party held on October 29 at Nanatsuka Health and Welfare Center there were multiple cultural activities, including a lion dance performance by elementary school children.

While doing homestay, the group, which had come to Kahoku on October 22, participated in many activities, including seeing the sights in the city.