Mayor Schwenke receives high-ranking Japanese delegation

Offenbach has been twinned with the Japanese city of Kawagoe for 40 years. In addition to the contacts between the people of Kawagoe and Offenbach, the two cities are also linked economically: Honda Research & Development Europe has been providing highly qualified jobs at its research center in the Bieber-Waldhof district for over 30 years, Falken Tyre Europe has been represented in Offenbach for a similar length of time as part of the Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. group and Fuji Electric Europe is based in Kaiserlei. The Offenbach and Kawagoe Chambers of Commerce maintain close contacts and this year, for the first time, the Japanese festival Main Matsuri in Büsingpark introduced thousands of guests from Germany and the region to Japanese culture.

At the beginning of September, a Japanese delegation visited the city of Offenbach for the first time in four years following the pandemic-related travel restrictions. Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke welcomed the Japanese Consul General Shinichi Asazuma, the Consul for Economy and Finance, Masaki Satoda, as well as two members of the Japanese lower house of parliament, Yasuko Komiyama and Hideto Kawasaki, to the town hall. Schwenke thanked the Japanese guests for their great interest in Offenbach: "We are proud in Offenbach to be able to look back on such a long friendship and we still feel closely connected to Kawagoe," said Schwenke and emphasized: "Given the great distance, living our partnership is certainly not always as easy as with our European twin cities. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of interest and mutual fascination for our cultures. This is what makes our partnership so special and that is why it is very important to me that, beyond our economic interests, people from Kawagoe and Offenbach come together again and again."

Kawagoe and Offenbach regularly organize student exchanges. Only recently, Kazuhiro Nezu - who came to Germany over 50 years ago for professional reasons but now lives in Kawagoe again - visited Offenbach again and was able to experience the Main Matsuri in Büsingpark. Over the years, Kazuhiro Nezu has been involved in a whole series of youth exchanges on a voluntary basis, particularly in the field of sport. The self-confessed Kickers fan, who still regularly follows OFC matches online, was awarded the City of Offenbach's Citizens' Medal for his services in 2001. He is still an important contact for the Town Twinning Department in the Public Relations Office under the direction of Bettina Jöst.

As head of the delegation, Yasuko Komiyama, a member of the House of Commons, presented Mayor Schwenke with a letter and a gift from Kawagoe's Mayor Kawai. She herself also comes from the twin city and invited Mayor Schwenke to visit Japan. Yasuko Komiyama emphasized the importance of relations between Japan and Germany and that these relations would continue in the future. Mayor Schwenke expressed his delight at the guests' invitation and announced his intention to organize a citizens' trip to Japan next year or the year after. Following the reception in the town hall, the Japanese were guests at the Offenbach Chamber of Industry and Commerce.