SISTER CITIES

Chiba City & Houston
Chiba City Logo

This year marks the 30th anniversary of asister-city agreement between Chiba City,
Japan and the City of Houston, USA.
Festivities celebrating the event were held thispast July in Houston. The mayor of Chiba
City, Keiichi Tsuruoka, led the visiting
Japanese delegation which also included
Hiroshi Ichihara, Chairman of the Chiba City
Municipal Assembly, and members representing the public, private and academic sectors.

to ask about partnering with a Japanese citywith similar interests and characteristics. Chiba
City recognized that it had many commonalities with Houston. Both are port cities withstrong industrial bases. Chiba accepted theoffer and after a short but fruitful courtship,
the cities completed a sister-city agreement on
October 24, 1972.

• Baseball games between little league teams
from the two cities• An agreement starting in 1990 between theUniversity of Houston’s College of Business
Administration and Chiba University’s
Faculty of Law and Economics for joint
research studies and faculty and student
exchanges

The 30 year relationship has continuously
deepened, and has been punctuated by numer-Mayor Tsuruoka, Chairman
Ichihara and the Japanese
anniversary delegation met with
Houston Mayor Lee Brown in his
office at City Hall last July. Afterthe meeting, commemorative
photographs were taken and theCity of Houston hosted a publicanniversary celebration during
which the two mayors spoke andexchanged gifts. Houston’s gift toChiba was a miniature Japaneseflag that had been flown during
the mission of a Japanese astronaut, and a photograph of Chiba
The Japanese citizens delegation and Houstonians in attendance enjoyedclassical Japanese music during their anniversary celebration in Texas.
taken from outer space. The mayThe City of Houston,ors cut the anniversary cake, andsituated in southwestern Texas,
attendees then enjoyed a mini
ous successful exchange programs that have
has likewise grown tremendously over theconcert by Japanese performers playing theblossomed into annual events. Some of thelast ten years and has a current population
koto and shakuhachi, traditional Japanesemutually rewarding exchanges that have takenof approximately 1.9 million people. It is themusical instruments, enjoyed by all. The
place are:largest city in the Lone Star State of Texas andJapan-America Society of Houston hosted a• Exchanges of junior high school students, a
the fourth largest in the United States. Houston
reception for the official delegation the same
program started in 1983
also has a very international orientation andevening.
has entered into 14 sister- city relationships.
• High school student language exchanges
The 30th anniversary commemorative
including home stays with foreign families
Interaction between the two cities began
event was extremely successful and full of• Mutual good will ambassadors from thein March 1972. Invited to Japan by the Japanpromise for the future relationship between thecities’ respective mayors
External Trade Organization (JETRO), acitizens of these two cities. It was seen as theHouston delegation approached the Japanfirst step in the 21st century toward intensified• Visits by citizens at each others’ internationMunicipal League for International Friendship
cooperation between Houston and Chiba.
al festivals
Chiba City, the capital ofChiba Prefecture, is located on
the Boso Peninsula, approximately 40km (25 mi) east of Tokyo.
Blessed with a moderate climate,
the city has grown recently, andits population now exceeds
900,000; as a result, in April of1992 Chiba was named a “designated city.” Chiba has an international outlook that embraces cultural diversity and has madetwinning agreements with sevencities around the world.

JLGC Newsletter

7Issue 43

Summer 2003

PREFECTURE TODAYMIE Prefecture
Mie PrefecturalEmblem

Mie Prefecture is located on the eastern side of the Kii Peninsula of Honshu
Island, near the center of the Japanesearchipelago on the Pacific Ocean (southern) shore. The prefecture is narrow butlong, extending only about 80 kilometers(50 miles) from east to west but 170 kilometers (just over 105 miles) from north tosouth. More than a third of the land in theprefecture has been set aside as naturalpark districts, which are richly blessedwith beautiful and varied scenery, including mountains, ravines, rivers and ocean.
Mie is home to numerous historicaland cultural sites of interest, including
the Ise Grand Shrine and Ueno, the cradleof the ninja tradition and the birthplaceof Matuso Basho, one of Japan’s greatest
masters of haiku (seventeen-syllable
poems). Since ancient times Mie hasserved as a crossroads since people
from all over the country have frequently
come and gone by way of the historic
Tokaido Road from Osaka, Kyoto and Edo(Tokyo), along the Sangu pilgrimage routeto visit the Ise Grand Shrine during O-Ise
Mairi (visits to Ise Shrine to pay respect tothe god).
Mie is also the location of the Suzuka
Circuit, which has become well known as amecca for motor sports and attracts many
people for international competitions
including the Formula-1 Grand Prix andthe Suzuka 8 hour Endurance Race. Due tothe prefecture’s abundant natural resources,
agriculture, forestry and fishing all thrivein Mie, which is famous for Ise tea,
Matsusaka beef, Ise shrimp, and Matoya
Bay oysters. It is also famous around theJAPAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER
666 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, NY 10103-0072

Pictured here is part of the Kumano Ancient Road known as “Kumano Kodo” in Owase City.

world as the source of the cultured pearlsof Ago Bay.
Mie’s prefectural government is
actively working to establish Mie as anadvanced prefecture in the fields of information technology, environmental protection and other areas of improvement.
There is currently a movement under way
for registration of the “Sacred Kii
Mountain Area and Pilgrimage Road” as aWorld Heritage Site. Including the Kumano
Ancient Road and the Ise Road, recognition and designation will, it is hoped, protect and preserve this area permanently.
The official World Heritage registration isexpected in 2004.

Mie tourism information will be found at:
http://www.kankomie.or.jp/kanko/discover/index.html

Featuredin thisissue:

ISHIKAWAPREF.

SAITAMA PREF.
CHIBA PREF.

Kanazawa
CityChiba
CityTokyo
Yokohama
Mt. Fuji
MIE PREF.

Osaka Owase City

For more information and background,
see the Mie Prefectural Government web-site:
http://www.pref.mie.jp/ENGLISH/index.htm.
TEL: (212) 246-5542
FAX: (212) 246-5617

E-MAIL: info@jlgc.org
WEBSITE: http://www.clair.nippon-net.or.jp