Melbourne, Osaka, Japan, Sister cities, Medal
Summary
Melbourne has relationships with six sister cities which are Boston in the USA, Milan in Italy, Osaka in Japan, St Petersburg in Russia, Thessaloniki in Greece and Tianjin in China. These relationships are designed to foster cultural exchange and strengthen international ties.
One of the most impressive 'sister city' items in the collection is a large medal from Osaka City Council. The Japanese city became Melbourne's first sister city in 1978, and there are a number of items in the collection gifted by Osaka over the years.
This beautifully presented medal resides in its box, complete with a decorative ribbon. The obverse features the city logo in the centre, with the council's name in English on the bottom rim and floral emblems of Osaka above, including cherry blossoms and pansies. The reverse depicts the Osaka council building and stylised leaves of the ginkgo tree across the bottom.
This text is excerpted from Darren Burgess' essay 'City of Melbourne Numismatic Collection', available in full through the 'Explore' tab above.
