The City of Moka was on the screens of several Harvey residents last week for a virtual tour of the city

The City of Moka was on the screens of several Harvey residents last week as the shire’s sister city welcomed the community for a virtual tour of the city. Several groups tuned in to explore the top tourism spots of the city and were treated to an inside look at the famous Moka Cotton Hall and iconic steam locomotive station. The tour took visitors inside the cotton hall giving a behind the scenes look at traditional production methods. After this, they toured the steam locomotive station, home to some of Japan’s only steam engines. City of Moka mayor Ishizaka Shinichi said he would like to continue to promote the exchange of culture across the cities and build upon the relationship first established in 2003 when Australind Senior High School and Moka Junior High School became sister schools. He said he was grateful for the Shire of Harvey’s delegation visit in October last year. He went on to say Moka was number one in Japan in both strawberry production and sales, famous for its sweet and delicious strawberries featured during the virtual visit. “We hope you will enjoy the wonders of Moka to the fullest today,” Mr Shinichi said. “I hope this tour will be an opportunity for new exchanges between Harvey and Moka.” Harvey shire president Michelle Campbell said the feedback from the tour had been overwhelmingly positive. “It’s not every day that the real-time work, culture and traditions of a Japanese city is delivered straight to your doorstep,” she said. “It was admirable to see the effort Moka citizens put into preserving their traditional techniques and practices. “Cultural preservation is something we care deeply about in the shire as well, so that part of the tour was very interesting.” The tour followed a virtual tour of the Shire of Harvey which was shown to Moka citizens in September last year, with both tours funded by the City of Moka. “We are lucky to have a friendship city that has been so creative and generous with the projects they share with us,” Cr Campbell said. “We know last year’s shire tour put the Harvey region on the holiday bucket list of many Moka viewers and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the City of Moka is now front of mind for locals scheduling their next holiday.”