From the 18 to the 19 May, a group of twelve volunteers and staff from Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture attended the Derbyshire Food Fair to introduce local Aichi specialist food products from Japan at the event held by Derbyshire County Council at Elvaston Castle Country Park, which comprised of 170 outlets and saw 15,600 visitors.
Derbyshire County Council has had a long relationship with JLGC, hosting our Japan Day Seminar and several groups of Japanese staff seconded from local government, who have visited the area to find out more about the role of local government in the UK. JLGC this time sent three staff to help the group from Toyota City, the first opportunity the office has had to attend the food fair. Toyota City and Derbyshire’s twinning links started in 1998, as an outcome of Toyota Motors establishing their factory in Burnaston, which is a major employer in the region as well as playing a big role in the wider economy.
This was also the first time that Toyota City had sent a group to attend the food fair and introduce Japanese specialist food products to the people of Derbyshire. Toyota City and Derbyshire also regularly organise a student exchange between the two linked authorities, with reciprocal visits very year. This year, which marks the fifteenth anniversary of twinning links between the two local authorities, saw Derbyshire officially invite Toyota City to the food fair as part of a series of events to celebrate the friendship.
Visitors to the Toyota stall, which was also manned by staff from the local Toyota Motors factory, were able to sample local delicacies from Aichi such as rice wine, fruit wine (strawberry, plum and tomato), soybean crackers, miso crackers and puffed cereal cakes, with support from the Aichi Toyota Agricultural Cooperative. Although this was only a PR event there was much interest in the products which were freely available for tasting and highly appreciated by visitors.
An outdoor tea ceremony was also performed at which toyota 2visitors could get a taste of mattcha green tea, provided by volunteers from the Toyota City Friendship Association. Although some people didn’t quite know what to make of the taste, everyone was happy to have had the opportunity to taste and experience something unusual and not often seen in the county. Derbyshire County Council also exhibited local porcelain in the same tent as the tea ceremony, local produced works complimenting the speciality tea from Japan.
This was the first opportunity for Toyota City to introduce its other culture and industries, apart from vehicle manufacture, to the people of Derbyshire, and for people of the city to meet with Derbyshire locals. JLGC was also happy to be able to help the twinning link, which is a valuable relationship for the people of both areas in Japan and the UK. JLGC looks forward to being able to support the link between Derbyshire and Toyota City in the future.
