Setagaya City is located in the southwestern part of Tokyo’s 23 wards and boasts a population of approximately 920,000, which is the largest of the 23 wards. The city has an area of about 58 square kilometres making it the second largest city after Ota City among Tokyo’s 23 wards.
Consisting of 5 districts of Setagaya, Kitazawa, Tamagawa, Kinuta and Karasuyama, the city has a characteristic calm atmosphere despite being located in the Tokyo Metropolis, and makes itself a comfortable residential city with abundant nature.
The city has many places where people can enjoy art and culture, and an attraction of the city is that it holds various festivals and events throughout the year such as the historical ‘Setagaya Boro Ichi’ as captured on the cover.
Setagaya City formed a sister city relationship with City of Bunbury in Western Australia in November 1992, led by primary school students’ visits from Setagaya to Bunbury. Since this affiliation was established, the two cities have organised many exchanges in various areas and celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2022.
The two cities have been deepening their friendship especially in the fields of education, sports, culture and art. In the field of education, friendship delegations of primary and junior high school students have visited each other’s cities, where students experienced homestays and participated in school activities during their visits. In the area of sports, they have had marathon exchanges such as runners from Bunbury participating in the Setagaya 246 Marathon, and in the area of culture and art, both cities have held photo exhibitions which showcase the photographs taken by residents of each other’s cities.
Although these exchanges had halted due to the pandemic, Setagaya City was able to resume in-person exchange programs for the first time in four years, beginning with the Setagaya Junior High School Student Delegation’s visit in September 2023, followed by the Setagaya Elementary School Student Delegation’s visit in November. On both occasions, Bunbury locals welcomed the young participants so warmly that Setagaya City strongly felt the strong bond of sister cities that had been fostered over the years.
In December 2023, Bunbury Mayor Jaysen De San Miguel visited Setagaya City when he participated in the Local Government Exchange & Cooperation Seminar held by CLAIR in Japan. This event gave both cities’ mayors the opportunity to exchange their opinions face to face, and Mr Miguel was awarded ‘Honorary City Citizen’ of Setagaya City on this special occasion.
In 2024, the exchanges with Bunbury have been continuing proactively.
For example, the Bunbury Primary School Student Delegation visited Setagaya City in September, and two Bunbury marathon runners participated in the Setagaya 246 Marathon for the first time in five years. Through these events, Setagaya City has rediscovered how wonderful face-to-face interactions with people are, which cannot be experienced online.
Setagaya City sincerely hopes that their friendship with City of Bunbury will further deepen through the various exchange programs including educational exchanges.
From the 3rd to the 13th of December, eight selected swimmers from the Fukuoka Swimming Association visited NSW, where they participated in joint training sessions with a local school and competed in the 2024-25 Speedo NSW Senior State Age Championships.
