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The Pierre-Fort Pierre Rotary Club hosted a Group Study Exchange from Ibaraki, Japan in September 2009.

The Group Study Exchange program of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 in the initial years of their professional life. For four to six weeks, team members study the host country’s institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced aboard, develop personal and professional relationships and exchange ideas. The Japanese team was led by Mitsukaido Rotary Club member Ryukai Seto, a head priest at a Buddhist temple. His team included Ikuko Gunji, 35, who works in public relations at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency; Junko Mizui, 36, a ceramic artist and teacher; Masahiro Nakano, 27, an accountant; and Kentaro Okano, 32, a community affairs official. The team visited Sioux Falls, Vermillion, Brookings, Watertown, Mitchell and Rapid City, South Dakota in addition to Pierre-Fort Pierre. Chuck Schroyer chaired the local committee that oversaw this exchange.

Front row: Anne Gormley, Iku, Kentaro, Jun, Hiro, Ryu, Back row: Kelly Glot, Larry Lingstad, Wally Thompson, Tom Tveit