Kirsty Macnicol
The Southland Times
January 10, 1998

WE awoke to 25cm of snow on the ground and beautiful clear, blue skies.
It was definitely T-shirt and gumboots weather _ we didn't have either.
The hospitality never stopped flowing and we found ourselves laden with gifts, a Japanese custom that makes it feel like Christmas over again.
But the day really belonged to the pipe band. Following a courtesy visit to Mayor Kazuo Kobayashi, the 11 members of the City of Invercargill Caledonian Pipe Band performed to a large crowd outside City Hall before negotiating a long and slippery march to Yagihashi department store.
There promotions executive Julie Paterson and Southland Economic
Development Unit manager Glenys McKenzie were kept busy promoting Southland tourism while the band played two half-hour concerts, again to a large crowd.
At a meeting of the Kumagaya Rotary Club, we were treated to a Japanese meal where the party proved proficient with chopsticks and the band again performed.
Everywhere we go we are photographed and the council's public relations department is constantly wanting interviews.
Today the party was joined by a television crew from the local cable
television network.
As we returned to Rissho University, we were in awe at the way we are being treated. As one member of the pipe band said: "I feel like I've died after being really, really good."