Perth Voice Interactive

A DELEGATION led by a dancing Perth lord mayor Basil Zempilas has hit the streets of Kagoshima in Japan for the Ohara Matsuri Parade.

He joined 20,000 other dancers in the tradition, as part of a trip marking a 50-year sister city relationship with Kagoshima.

Mr Zempilas was invited by Kagoshima mayor Takao Shimozuru, who visited Perth in July this year. Kagoshima is our oldest sister city, and the relationship was set up in 1972 due to the cities sharing a latitude of 32 degrees (theirs north, ours south).

A plaque to Perth on a Kagoshima street says the friendship has led to exchanges of delegations, citizens, and students, and “Perth’s famous wines… have also been introduced here”.

The Voice cannot be certain of that translation, though: The text came courtesy of ChatGPT, which claims the sign also says “Perth is a vibrant city known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”.”