A delegation led by the Mayor Sergio Chiamparino (composed of Elda Tessore, Deputy-Mayor for Promotion, Communication and Olympics; Michele Coppola, Vice President of the Communal Council; Pier Giorgio Corsetto, Communal Councillor; Alessandro Barberis, President of the Chamber of Commerce; Valentino Castellani, President of TOROC; Rodolfo Zich, President of Torino Wireless; Paolo Corradini, Director of ITP and Paolo Verri, Director of Torino Internazionale) were in Japan from May 26th to June 1st for the signature of the twinning agreement between the two cities.

Their mission included various meetings, including the Mayor Sergio Chiamparino and the President of the CCIAA A. Barberis visit to the Toyota plant on the 26th of May.
On May 27th, the Official Ceremony for the signing of the twinning agreement took place at the Civic Reception House of Nagoya, followed by a press conference about Turin, the 2006 Winter Olympics and the city’s transformations. Then, the Festival of Twin Cities was inaugurated at the Sasashima Satellite Site, where Turin had a promotional stand. That evening, the first of the three concerts of the Academia Montis Regalis financed by the Piedmont Region took place.

On May 28th the delegation visited the Italian pavilion of Expo Aichi 2005 inside of which could be found a reproduction of the “Caffè Torino” (thanks to the collaboration between Piedmont Region and Turin Town-hall), which had great success.

On May 29th the 2006 Winter Olympic Mascots Neve and Gliz participated to the parade for Twin and Friend cities. The representatives from every twin and friend city took part in the parade that went from the city council to the city centre.

On May 30th the Mayor and the delegation met the Ambassador Mario Bova at the seat of the Italian Embassy of Tokyo. The afternoon was dedicated to the promotional presentation of the City (organised by ITP-Investments Turin Piedmont, Torino Wireless, ENIT-National Organisation for Tourism, CCIAA-Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Handicraft and Agriculture and Torino Internazionale).

The visit of the delegation to Japan ended on May 31st in Tokyo with the press conference about Turin, the transformation of the city and the 2006 Olympic Games, during which the Mayor Sergio Chiamparino, the Deputy Mayor Elsa Tessore and the President of TOROC Valentino Castellani made a speech in front of more than 100 journalists.