Twinning of Sister Cities - Sparwood, BC - Sister City Monuments on Waymarking.com

The plaque is located outside of the District of Sparwood municipal office building.

TWINNING OF SISTER CITIES KAMISUNAGAWA AND DISTRICT OF SPARWOOD SEPTEMBER 23, 1980

Additional information about the sister city is available on the district's website:

On September 23, 1980 the District of Sparwood and the Town of Kamisunagawa in Hokkaido, Japan pledged to cooperate with one another as sister cities to promote mutual understanding and friendship

An agreement was signed where both cities agreed to strive for industrial, economic, cultural exchange, and endeavour to international goodwill between Canada and Japan. On August 15, 1999, in recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the twinning of Sparwood and Kamisunagawa and as a re-commitment to our Sister City Relationship, the establishment of a student exchange program between the two communities was announced.

In Japan, Kodomo no hi, or "Children's Day," is celebrated every year on May 5th. On this national holiday, children are respected and honoured for their individual strengths and happiness is wished upon them. On Kodomo no hi Koinobori, or cloth carp streamers, are flown on poles outside of public buildings and private houses to bring luck and good fortune to the children inside. Koi fish, or Carp, are believed to be strong, spirited fish and are revered for their determination in fighting as they swim upstream and through powerful waterfalls. The Koinobori symbolize the desire for children to become brave and strong individuals.

In honour of this national holiday, the District of Sparwood has adopted the Sister City - Kamisunagawa Policy, where the District has resolved to to display, on an annual basis, the “Carp banners” during the week of May 5th.

Source: https://sparwood.ca/our-sister-city

Some information about the two two cities, from wikipedia:

Kamisunagawa is a town located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 3,278. The total area is 39.91 km². There is a microgravity test facility located in Kamisunagawa used for astronomic purposes.


Sparwood is a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the second largest community on the Elk River.
The District Municipality of Sparwood has approximately 4200 residents. Sparwood is quite large for its population, taking up an area of 191.01 square kilometers and incorporating the local coal mines.
In the late 1800s, there was a railroad stop known as Sparwood, which was so named because of the trees from this area being shipped to the Coast for manufacturing SPARS for ocean vessels.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamisunagawa,_Hokkaido
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparwood

The two cities are shown on the following map. They are approximately 7277 kms apart.

Image caption: Map showing the location of the twin cities. "A" = Kamisunagawa Japan; "B" = Sparwood, British Columbia, Canada. Map data from the OpenStreetMap project, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Used under Open Database Licence (see www.openstreetmap.org/copyright or www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl)