Tosashimizu, Kōchi

Infobox City Japan
Name= Tosashimizu
JapaneseName= 土佐清水市
Map

Region= Shikoku
Prefecture= Kōchi
District=
Area_km2= 266.54
PopDate= June 2008
Population= 17,232
Density_km2= 64.7
Coords=
LatitudeDegrees= 32
LatitudeMinutes= 47
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 132
LongtitudeMinutes= 57
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree= Akō (Ficus superba Miq. var. japonica Miq.)
Flower= Camellia
Bird= Blue Rock-thrush
Fish= Mejika
Symbol

SymbolDescription=
Mayor= Shin'ichirō Nishimura
CityHallPostalCode= 787-0392
CityHallAddress=11-2, Tenjinmachi, Tosashimizu-shi, Kōchi-ken
CityHallPhone= 0880-82-1111
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.tosashimizu.kochi.jp/ Tosashimizu City] nihongo|Tosashimizu|土佐清水市|Tosashimizu-shi is a city located in Kōchi, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 17,232 and a density of 64.7 persons per km². The total area is 266.54 km².

The city was founded on August 1, 1954.

The village of Nakanohama in what is now Tosashimizu City is the birthplace of John Manjiro (Manjiro Nakahama), the first Japanese to reach the United States. Manjiro, a young fisherman, was shipwrecked off the coast of Japan in 1841 and rescued by whaling captain William Whitfield of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Whitfield brought the young Manjiro back to Fairhaven and New Bedford at the end of the whaling voyage, and Manjiro spent several years there before eventually making his way back to Japan. Because of this history, Tosashimizu became the sister city of both Fairhaven and New Bedford in 1987.

ister cities

* New Bedford, Massachusetts
* Fairhaven, Massachusetts

External links

* [http://www.city.tosashimizu.kochi.jp/ Tosashimizu official website] in Japanese
* [http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/monuments/tosashimizu/index.htm Tosashimizu 132nd Shinyo Special Attack Squadron Monument]