Tacoma’s oldest sister city relationship is with Kitakyushu, Japan, and has existed since 1959.¹⁹⁸ Dedicated efforts to build exchange programs with that city’s university did not start in earnest until the early 2000s; however, TCC has nevertheless had a long-standing history of Japanese cultural and educational exchange opportunities.

TCC received its first group of Japanese exchange students in the summer of 1974.¹⁹⁹ In 1985, the TCC Foundation co-sponsored the Sister City Music Festival, which included a violinist from Kitakyushu, as well as musicians from South Korea and Israel.²⁰⁰ TCC hosted students and instructors from Tamagawa University in 1989, who shared traditional music, dance, and theater at numerous performances at the college and other locations such as the Puyallup Fair.²⁰¹

Photo: Tamagawa University performers in production "Bekkanko Oni," 1989.

TCC began hosting University of Kitakyushu (UKK) students in 2004,²⁰² and the first six-month cohort arrived in Fall 2008.²⁰³ Five years later, TCC and UKK signed a memorandum of understanding to allow TCC students to travel and study in Japan.²⁰⁴ As the sister cities and sister institutions have continued to develop their relationships, TCC faculty and students have taken advantage of scholarly opportunities in Japan, attending and presenting at conferences.²⁰⁵

South Korean city Gunsan has been Tacoma’s sister city since 1979. Also part of the Global Discovery Program that has brought UKK students to TCC, the Gunsan National University started sending students to Tacoma in 2009.²⁰⁶

Photo 1: Visiting Japanese students at TCC, Summer 1974.
Photo 2: University of Kitakyushu exchange students, circa 2000s.
Photo 3: University of Kitakyushu and Gunsan National University students graduating from TCC, 2011.