Photo/LAVINIA KERR TWO MAYORS SHAKE HANDS. Mono Mayor Keith Thompson greets Mayor Kinichi Tada from Sumita, Japan on Sunday. The Japanese visitors, whose tour guide was Mark Thompson, were touring Mono to take in the fall colours. Mono council convened a special session early Sunday morning to greet a group of visitors from Sumita, Japan.

Mayor Keith Thompson asked the council to welcome the guests because his son Mark, who lives in Japan with his wife Junko Mino, was acting as the group's tour guide and Mono was included in the tour for the group to see the fall colours, and it was also an opportunity for the Mayor to visit with his

two grandsons, two-yearold Conan and sevenweek old Leif.

The delegation included Mayor Kinichi Tada of Sumito, Japan and his wife Hiroko, director of education for the Sumita school board; Kazuko Mizunuma and Toshiyuki Suzuki, vice-principal of the local Junior High School, who were acting as translators for the group.

Mark Mino-Thompson (Mayor Thompson's son)

originally went to Japan seven years ago as part of an exchange program to teach English. He decided to settle permanently in Japan after meeting his wife.This was also the first occasion for the mayor to meet his newest grandchild, now only seven weeks old.

Mayor Tada, through the translator, told Mayor Thompson he was pleased to be visiting the birthplace of his good friend Mark, because he had acted

as "matchmaker" at Mark and Junko's Japanese wedding ceremony.

During the special council session, gifts were exchanged and Mayor Thompson suggested the possibility of the two towns twinning with each other.

Like Mono, Sumita is a small town of about 6,000 residents, in the Iwate province in the northwest region of Honshu Japan, and is described as a rural forested area that is home to rice fields.

"The region really has a lot in common with Mono," said Mr. Mino- Thompson "But this group was really interested in seeing the fall colours, because that's the image they have of Canada."

The group completed the visit to Mono with a tour of the area to see the fall colours and a walk at Mono Cliffs Provincial Park before returning to Toronto for a flight to Vancouver.