Skip to content

Japan-United States Sister City Association (JUSSCA)

日米姉妹都市協会（ジャスカ)

Learn More
Washington, DC at the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial during spring.
Kyoto5
NEW YORK CITY - AUGUST 24: Landmark buildings including New Yorker Hotel and Empire State Building August 24, 2011 in New York, NY. Both built in the 1930's, they both represent the Art Deco style.
Our History

Japan-United States Sister City Association (JUSSCA)

The sister city program was instituted in the United States on September 11, 1956 at the White House Conference when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a national citizen diplomacy initiative. The first sister city relationship between a U.S. city and a Japanese city had been established just one year prior in 1955 between the City of St. Paul, Minnesota and the City of Nagasaki, Japan. This was followed by sister city partnerships between the cities of Sendai and Riverside, California in March, 1957, the cities of Okayama and San Jose, California in May, 1957, and the cities of Yokohama and San Diego, California in October, 1957. Today, over 450 sister city/town and state/prefectural relationships exist, representing the world’s largest and oldest such partnerships for both Japan and the United States.

Learn More
WHAT WE DO

Sister City Exchange

With support from federal governments, corporations and individual partners and members, JUSSCA provides sponsorships and funding to Japanese local sectors, especially smaller cities/towns and prefectures with their existing American sister city partners for Japan-U.S. sister city and state/prefectural programs. JUSSCA aims to benefit both American and Japanese sister city communities by providing international assistance and resources to Japanese subnational governments and nonprofit organizations in Japan to cultivate people-to-people grassroot exchanges for diplomatic, cultural, educational, sports, and economic purposes.

Learn More

In 2025, the U.S. and Japan will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its first sister city partnership.

EisenhowerDwight
“The Sister Cities Program is an important resource to the negotiations of governments in letting the people themselves give expression of their common desire for friendship, goodwill and cooperation for a better world for all.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
KennedyJohn
“The Town Affiliation Program is making a real contribution throughout the United States and with many communities abroad. I hope that you will work to spread its effectiveness to other communities in your part of the country.”
President John F. Kennedy
FordGerald
“When President Eisenhower proposed the establishment of a program of affiliation between American and foreign cities on September 11, 1956, no one could have anticipated how successful it would become."
President Gerald Ford
CarterJimmy
“The Sister City program is based on a mutual situation – all countries experience urban problems – and from this common base we can move toward broader understanding to bring our diverse cultures closer together.”
President Jimmy Carter
ReaganRonald
"Sister Cities serves to promote better understanding and cooperation throughout the world. Out of this effort comes a spirit of friendship which, when multiplied by thousands of Sister Cities, results in improved economic, cultural, and social relationships between people everywhere.”
President Ronald Reagan
ObamaBarack
"These collaborations promote collaboration and trust among citizens and nations, create opportunities for technological and economic innovation and development, and lay the foundations for continued peace and prosperity."
President Barack Obama
WHAT WE DO

JUSSCA Programs

Sponsorships & Grants

JUSSCA applies for American and Japanese federal government grants to administer and distribute the funds to sponsor Japan-U.S. sister city and prefectural programs.
Read More

Memberships

JUSSCA's individual and corporate memberships help to fund the organization's operations and the resources and sponsorship it provides Japan-United States sister city...
Read More

Student Exchange Alumni

The Japan - United States Sister City Association Student Exchange Alumni is a dynamic network dedicated to fostering connections and professional growth ...
Read More

Today, over 450 sister city relationships exist between Japan and the United States