Fujimoto Michio, founder of Shanghai’s Jiading Wisteria Park

The then Wake government was looking for a Chinese city to form a long-term friendship with. Upon recommendation and contact with the Japan-China Friendship Association and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Fujimoto, then governor of Wake, visited Jiading, Guiling, Xian, Beijing and other nominated cities and eventually chose the unspoiled and convenient district of Jiading, Shanghai, as the partner.

Asked about this decision, Fujimoto responded,“In the village I lived in there was a good friend of mine who was of the same age as my father. He was doing business in Shanghai before the war and he really missed that time after returning to Japan. He told me a lot about his good old days and friends in Shanghai when we drank. Therefore I felt intimate with this city from an early age and I think that is the reason I finally chose Shanghai.”