General Description (Basic Facts) of Ishinomaki of Japan

    Ishinomaki lies in Miyagi, a county in the north east part of Japan. As the second largest city in this county, Ishinomaki is only smaller than the city of Sendai. The urban area of Ishinomaki covers 137 square kilometers. And it has a total population of 120,000. Its annual average temperature always remains at 11.5°C.
    Ishinomaki is located at the mouth of Kitakami River, which finally pours into the Pacific Ocean. Near the ocean is the Kinka Mountain Fishery, one of the three biggest fisheries in the world. Because of its favorable geographic situation, Ishinomaki is very rich in aquatic resources. This has greatly enhanced the development of Ishinomaki's deep-sea fishery and aquatic products industry. Furthermore, there are large-scaled industrial port and first-class natural fishing port in Ishinomaki. The industrial structure consisting of fishery, industry, agriculture and commerce has taken form and all industries have been developing in an all-round way. In recent years, the completion of Ishinomaki Mangattan Museum, Synthesis Sports Park and Sant Juan Bautista has made Ishinomaki an important city in the north east part of Japan.

The Brief Introduction of the Friendly Exchanges between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki (Miyagi, Japan)

    Introduced by the Zhejiang People's Association for Friendly Relationship with Foreign Countries, the agreement on the establishment of sister city relationship between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki was signed on Oct.23th, 1984. With the spirit of Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration and Sino-Japanese Treaty for Peace and Friendship, basing on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, mutual trust and long-term stability, both cities have carried out positive and extensive cooperation in fields of economy & trade, scientific technology, culture & education and human resources training, etc. After 18 years of friendly exchange, the cooperation between the two cities has been very successful and fruitful, not only promoted the common prosperity of the two cities, but also enhanced the exchanges between the people of the two cities.

    First, it has been decided by the two governments to carry out regular exchange visits. In the first five years from 1984 to 1989, the government of the two cities exchanged visits to each other city every year; In the next 5 years from 1990 to 1994, the two cities exchanged visits every other year. After 1994, a new agreement of ten-year exchange plan was signed, confirming Wenzhou and Ishinomaki would send friendship delegations to each other every other year until 2004. Therefore, in spite of the replacement of the government leaders of both cities, Wenzhou and Ishinomaki always have kept very close contacts and their communication channels never blocked. These visits and exchanges in the fields of city construction and economy have greatly deepened the mutual understanding and friendship of both cities and broadened the friendly exchange relationship between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki to a high level as well.

    Besides, the non-government exchanges between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki also bloom. In economic area, the companies of Wenzhou has signed many contracts with the companies of Ishinomaki, exporting farm & sideline products and marine products such as crabs, live eels, prawns, mushrooms and small taros, etc. Besides, Ishinomaki also imported some woods materials from Taishun, a county of Wenzhou. With the efforts of both sides, the Shipyard of Wenzhou and the Western-hill Dockyard of Ishinomaki have successfully designed a 300-ton gasoline powered ship named " Yansong".  13 stone carvings of Buddha were made in Wenzhou and exported to Ishinomaki, every one of which is as high as 4 meters.

    There are frequent contacts in the areas of culture and education between the two cities. Some famous artists who are native of Wenzhou, such as Mr. Liu Danzha, a well-known painter, Mr. Lin Jiandan, a calligrapher and Mr. Wen Jingxian, an artist specialized in hair-embroidery and water-color painting have held different exhibitions in Ishinomaki, which were quite popular among the people of Ishinomaki. Moreover, sister school relationship has been set up among the universities, middle schools and primary schools of the two cities. They are the Wenzhou University and the University of Ishinomaki for Special Courses, the No.2 Experimental Middle School of Wenzhou and the Man Seki Ura Middle School of Ishinomaki, the WaShi Primary School of Wenzhou and the Kai Hoku Primary School of Ishinomaki. Besides, the two cities have close contacts in the field of sports. Teams composed of athletes from both cities, took part in the Sino-Japanese Table-tennis Friendly Match in Beijing twice and participated in the West Lake Marathon Game in Hanghzhou for several times. What's more, the Weiqi players from the two cities often compete with each other and the Badminton teams of Wenzhou and Ishinomaki have visited each other for many times.

    Another important content of the friendly exchanges between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki is the exchange of talented persons. The government of Wenzhou has successively dispatched three groups of persons to Ishinomaki. These persons have received three-month refresher courses on vegetable growing, printing and education administration, etc. From 1991, Wenzhou began to send aquatic products processing workers to Ishinomaki. Up to now, 760 workers in 12 different groups have been Ishinomaki and worked there. These workers have learned the advanced technology and management experience from Japan. After they came back to Wenzhou, they have made many contributions to the economy of Wenzhou on their own posts.

    In 1989 and 1994, a "China-Wenzhou" Exhibition was held respectively in Ishinomaki in order to mark the fifth tenth anniversary of the establishment of friendly relationship between Wenzhou and Ishinomaki. 50,000 out of the 120,000 residents in Ishinomaki visited these exhibitions. The Ishinomaki people learned much about China and Wenzhou from the exhibitions and were deeply impressed by the abundant products and culture of Wenzhou and China. Great economic & social effects have been achieved from these exhibitions.

    The year 2002 is the 18th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relationship between the two cities. The two cities will invest together to build the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hall in Wenzhou as well as other commemorative activities. Wenzhou and Ishinomaki are trying all out to open up a new chapter of their friendly exchange relationship in the new century.