Sister City Joyo, Japan

In the early 90s the Vancouver Rotary and the Joyo Rotary Clubs initiated the idea of starting a sister city relationship. After much work and support from residents in Vancouver and Joyo, the relationship became official in 1995. Watch a short video to learn more about how the sister city relationship started.

Joyo and Vancouver have enjoyed many formal and informal social, cultural and political exchanges such as children’s art exchanges for more than 25 years.

About Joyo

The City of Joyo is located between two ancient capitals of Japan, Kyoto and Nara. It is situated in the center of the Yamashiro Basin and was founded on May 3, 1972.

The city extends 5.6 miles from east to west and 3.4 miles from north to south. The total size of the city is 12.64 square miles. As of March 2008, Joyo’s population was estimated at 80,669.

Joyo has many beautiful public facilities, most notably Konosu-yama-undo-koen, their recreation zone which features a replica of Fort Vancouver, and Bunka Parc Joyo (Joyo Cultural Center) which features a banquet room, library, community center, folklore reference center and planetarium. The citizens of Joyo enjoy various events at the center, including concerts and exhibitions.