The Medway Japan connection

From Will Adams to present day, Medway is still sending ambassadors to Japan.

Susan Haydock first became involved with Japan in 2004. At the time, as the Mayor of Medway, she was invited by the two cities that Medway is twinned with, Ito and Yokosuka, to attend special ceremonies on the anniversary of Gillingham hero William Adams’ building the first Western-style ship for the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Adams was an English navigator, and in 1600, became the first English person to make it to Japan.

Originally, Gillingham's relationship with Japan was a Gillingham affair. Gillingham mayors swapped back and forth with their counterparts in Japan, and Gillingham officers organised the exchange with Gillingham students. By 2004, when Gillingham Borough Council had been merged to form the larger Medway Council, council Medway officers decided they were spending too much time sending four students abroad and bringing four back. As a result, Susan took on the task.

Medway students taking part in the Japanese exchange.

She knew she needed help and got a group together. “I don’t remember how I did it”, says Susan. The daughter of a previous mayor had signed one of the twin agreements. A couple whose son works in Japan for the British Council, and somehow, they got the Medway Japan Friendship Association exchange going. When council officers were organising things, they went out with the students, but Susan changed that and now the students go out unaccompanied. Otherwise, the exchange is too expensive to operate.

I am now studying Chinese and Linguistics at the University of Westminster and preparing to sit my second year exams. For my third year, I will be studying abroad, so from this autumn, I’ll be studying in a university in Beijing.
The time spent during the exchange was amazing. I feel the experience really impacted who I am now and is an opportunity I’ll always be thankful for.

Jorrell (2010 exchange student)

The exchange has a long tradition, having been running for the better part of 40 years. In 2013, the council decided it would no longer fund it, and it took Susan a year to get the expenses back for everybody who had spent their money facilitating the exchange. After that, instead of having an information stall at the Will Adams Festival, which was a great opportunity to promote what they were doing and educate the people of Medway, they had to turn their thoughts to raising money.