Hyogo Prefecture & Washington State

The Hyogo Business & Cultural Center works to promote and enhance the sister-state relationship between Washington State and Hyogo Prefecture as well as our shared sister cities. By working closely on shared government agendas and issues, we can simultaneously gain valuable insight and share key information to further strengthen our sister-state ties and advance the lives of our citizenry.

HYOGO

WASHINGTON

The sister-city relationship established between Kobe and Seattle in 1957 was the very first in Washington. It was followed by the establishment of the sister-state relationship between Hyogo and Washington in 1963. Since then several other cities in Washington have established relationships with cities and towns in Hyogo.

Washington	Sister-City Association Est.	Hyogo
Seattle・シアトル	October 1957・1957年10月	Kobe・神戸市
Auburn・オーバーン	July 1968・1968年7月	Tamba (Kasuga)・丹波市（春日町）
Spokane・スポケーン	September 1961・1961年9月	Nishinomiya・西宮市
Renton・レントン	July 1969・1969年7月	Nishiwaki・西脇市
Kent・ケント	November 1969・1969年11月	Tamba (Kaibara)・丹波市（柏原町）
Walla Walla・ワラワラ	August 1972・1972年8月	Sasayama・篠山市
Olympia・オリンピア	April 1980・1980年4月	Kato (Yashiro)・加東市（社町）
Pullman・プルマン	November 1989・1989年11月	Kasai・加西市
Kittitas County・キッティタス郡	April 1992・1992年4月	Sanda・三田市
Sequim・スクイム	June 1993・1993年6月	Shiso (Yamasaki)・宍粟市（山崎町）
Chelan・シェラン	November 1996・1996年11月	Kato (Tojo)・加東市（東条町）
Port Townsend・ポート・タウンゼンド	October 2002・2002年10月	Ichikawa・市川町
Covington・コビントン	October 2015・2015年10月	Tatsuno・たつの市

Governor Inslee with students from Kato, Hyogo

Six students from Auburn set to visit Tamba City in the summer

The following are examples of what kinds of events and collaborations are currently being done between each of the sister relationships.

Seattle - Kobe: high school student dispatches, jazz vocal exchanges, yacht club networking
Spokane - Nishinomiya: high/middle school student dispatches, educational seminars
Kent/Auburn - Tamba: high/middle school student exchanges, mutual visits
Renton - Nishiwaki: high/middle school student exchanges, mutual visits, Lion’s Club member visits
Olympia - Kato: 10-day summer youth exchange program