Akitada Oishi, a former mayor of Hita, Oita Prefecture, is now an aid volunteer, lending his acumen as a successful municipal chief to the northern Argentine province of Salta.
Oishi, 71, is assisting the administration of the province near Argentina's borders with Bolivia and Chile by utilizing his experience serving as mayor, a job he held for three terms spanning 12 years starting in 1995.
Oishi started working for Salta province, which he describes as the "poorest region in Argentina," last January under a volunteer program of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.