   is a city located in kÅchi prefecture, japan. the city was founded on august 1, 1954. as of february 29, 2012, the city has an estimated population of 16,069, with 7,984 households and a population density of 60.29 persons per kmÂ². the total area is 266.54 kmÂ². the village of nakanohama in what is now tosashimizu city is the birthplace of john manjiro (manjiro nakahama), the first japanese to reach the united states. manjiro, a young fisherman, was shipwrecked off the coast of japan in 1841 and rescued by whaling captain william whitfield of fairhaven, massachusetts. whitfield brought the young manjiro back to fairhaven and new bedford at the end of the whaling voyage, and manjiro spent several years there before eventually making his way back to japan. because of this history, tosashimizu became the sister city of both fairhaven and new bedford in 1987. ==sister cities== * new bedford, massachusetts, usa * fairhaven, massachusetts, usa ==external links==  *   
Cities_in_KAchi_Prefecture