Fukui, Japan - In 1867, Fukui City sent Kusakabe Taro, a samurai from Fukui, to New Brunswick to learn English and attend Rutgers, then a Dutch Reformed Church College. He was the first Japanese to be awarded the Phi Beta Kappa, Kusakabe unfortunately died just before graduation in 1870 and is buried in Willow Grove Cemetery, in New Brunswick. Fukui is located and the Sea of Japan. with a population of more than 250,000. Sister Cities programs include exchanges of art, music, teachers, administrators, and students.  The Fukui Cultural Ambassador program was started in 2013, it gives the opportunity for a New Brunswick connected individual a chance to live and work in Fukui for a year. The official Sister Cities agreement was signed on May 25, 1982.

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