www.nishi.or.jp
Nishinomiya became Spokane's first Sister City in September, 1961. Since then, there have been many exchanges of citizens, students, teachers and others. The people of Spokane have enjoyed art and cultural exhibits from Nishinomiya but the greatest gift remains the Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Memorial Garden in Manito Park. More recently, the establishment of Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute with its Japanese Cultural Center, has added to the culture and economy of Spokane. The Spokane-Nishinomiya Sister City Society also makes a humanitarian contribution for the relationship between Spokane and Nishinomiya. After the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, the Society promptly sent Nishinomiya $125,000 in medical aid and $25,000 for earthquake relief funds. Moreover, the Society has developed the collection of the resources related to Nishinomiya City in cooperation with the Spokane Public Library. The Spokane-Nishinomiya Sister City Society has often received national awards for its programs.

SpokaneFromPalisades_20070614

The sister-city society was formed by local citizens in 1961 to promote exchanges with Nishinomiya to improve knowledge and understand of each other's culture and society. This link was forged after President Eisenhower had urged that Americans develop such people-to-people activity to help rebuild the world community weakened in war. The complexity of global relationships today and the vital importance of US-Japan ties give such activity key importance.

The Society has a mailing list of more than 200, with 50-60 individuals often active--a cross section of the populace who find tangible and intangible benefit in working to deepen our ties with Nishinomiya. They include educators, professionals, officials, and people from many other career fields.

japanesegarden2
The activities listed on this web page indicate the many areas of productive society involvement since the early 1960's affording close support for Spokane's official relations with Nishinomiya, sponsoring exchange programs that broaden Spokane's cultural, educational, and economic horizons, and helping this community through barriers to cross-cultural communication so that it may benefit fully from this state's growing ties with Japan.

For further information please contact: Rol Herriges, Society President

Photo of downtown Spokane, from Palisades Park by Mark Wagner.
Photo of Tsutakawa Memorial Garden by Ben Sondahl