A delegation of Japanese officials is in Christchurch to attend the Royal Commission looking into the collapse of the Canterbury Television building in the February 2011 earthquake.
Of the 115 who perished in the collapse, 64 were foreign students. Japanese citizens accounted for the greatest number of deaths after New Zealanders.
Twenty-three students and teachers from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages arrived in Christchurch three days before the February 22 earthquake to begin a three week exchange with Kings Education, which was based at the Canterbury Television building.
Only eleven of them returned to Japan.
A delegation from Toyama City, including its deputy mayor, returned to Christchurch on Wednesday and their presence at the Royal Commission was acknowleged by chairman Justice Cooper.
Wednesday's hearing focused on the extent to which alterations contributed to the building's collapse and the role soft soil may have played in weakening the building's foundations.
