![Japanese exchange students Yurie (third from right) and Manaka (far left) with their Armidale host John Cameron (4th from right). Taken at Civic Park, Armidale, for the Autumn festival in March 2005 Picture provided Japanese exchange students Yurie (third from right) and Manaka (far left) with their Armidale host John Cameron (4th from right). Taken at Civic Park, Armidale, for the Autumn festival in March 2005 Picture provided](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/220762904/5e4ee330-0445-4fa3-9484-46bcfb4f3679.jpg/r0_51_1280_839_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Japanese Exchange students Yuri and Manaka visited Armidale 20 years ago to study at the University of New England.
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Their hosts, John and Pauline (Polly) Cameron, who lived at Invergowrie at the time, have kept in touch with both girls and recently shared a reunion with them in Japan.
Manaka now works at the Museum of Fine Arts in the city of Gifu, Japan. The Museum collections consist mainly of paintings, sculptures, and crafts of the modern era and contemporary times.
Manaka was instrumental in assisting and putting together a highly successful exhibition by Australian performance artist Mike Parr whose works have been exhibited internationally.
Manaka was able to utilise her English (studied at UNE) and knowledge gained in Armidale and further studies in Australia for the occasion.
Manaka has many fond memories of her time in Armidale and said she cannot believe it has already been 20 years since she visited.
![(Top left) Yurie and her two children with John and Polly Cameron. (Top Right), Manaka with her husband and new baby girl. (Bottom left) Yurie and her family with hosts in Japan. (Bottom right), the fine arts museum where Manaka now works. Al pictures supplied. (Top left) Yurie and her two children with John and Polly Cameron. (Top Right), Manaka with her husband and new baby girl. (Bottom left) Yurie and her family with hosts in Japan. (Bottom right), the fine arts museum where Manaka now works. Al pictures supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/220762904/44ac6ca4-7e72-47f1-91aa-f1d5e2c4334e.png/r0_0_896_788_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"My most surprising memory in Australia was at my host's 5-acre property in Invergowrie, just outside Armidale," Manaka said.
"There was a mob of wild kangaroos in the garden. When I found them, nobody was in the house, so I got into a panic.
"I'd never seen such a big wild animal closely. I wanted to touch them but was scared of being punched. I really felt like I was in Australia," she said.
Manaka now uses her English language skills regularly offering interpretive services to visitors at the museum.
"Working at the Gifu Museum of Fine Art outside Nagoya Japan. My English skills are helping me and others in many ways," she said.
"In particular we have a small collection of the work of an Australian Artist Mike Parr. Currently, I am commissioned to make contact with him and gain his permission to include his work in a future catalogue.
"My museum is following my investigations very closely."
English wasn't her first course at the UNE, but was spurred on by positive interactions she had.
"Spending time in Armidale became a precious memory. The people I met were so friendly and I therefore wanted to be able to communicate with them more so I studied English at the UNE, which was fun."
"The museum I work at here in Gifu also has an Aboriginal art collection. When I look at them, I miss my time in Armidale," she said.
Manaka is now married to her husband Yasuhiro who is an engineer, and the pair have recently celebrated the arrival of a new baby girl.
Yurie is now a nanotechnologist and currently raising two children.
She said the experiences of being a foreign exchange student gave her a valuable cultural perspective, a lesson she would like to pass on to her own children, but more importantly, lifelong friends.
"I studied not only English but also many cultures, the warmth of people, and the power of magnificent nature in Armidale," Yurie said.
"The happiest thing that happened to me is that my host family was so very nice, I have kept in touch with them for more than 20 years.
"They came to Japan twice, once in 2017 and again in 2024. I had a wonderful time with them in Japan."
![Japanese exchange students Yurie (second from left) and Manaka (far right) with their Armidale host John Cameron (left). Picture provided Japanese exchange students Yurie (second from left) and Manaka (far right) with their Armidale host John Cameron (left). Picture provided](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/220762904/9cddd45b-9d2c-4e02-9e60-6025393caf24.jpg/r131_119_1280_839_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Yurie said that her son and daughter had even bonded with her former host family from Australia and they were hoping to visit them again soon.
"I'm sure it will be a precious experience for my kids to see the different cultures and how they live there," she said.
Their hosts were John and Polly Cameron who moved to Armidale in 2003 after Polly retired from her admin job in Bermuda, managing an oceanographic ship for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.
In Armidale, Ms Cameron immersed herself as a mature-aged student at UNE which she said provided her with many opportunities to participate in a wide range of programs, including the International School's appeal to host Japanese students, the mentoring program for "freshers", the archaeological Society and as a volunteer at the Museum of Antiquities.
It was through the appeal, that Ms Cameron and her husband met Yuri and Manaka.
The Camerons are still in regular communication with their Japanese "god-daughters" and have just returned from a holiday in Japan, they now live in Tambourine Mountain, NSW.