Gibson County Friendship City
Princeton, Indiana, and Tahara City, Japan, are friendship cities. A student and teacher exchange program strengthens ties between the economic partners.
On August 8, 2002 then Princeton Mayor Shirley Robb and Koichi Shirai, Tahara City Mayor, signed a declaration of friendship to proclaim the mutual support of the Worldwide Sister City/Friendship County organization and to develop a permanent relationship.
The two mayors proclaimed Tahara City and Princeton intended to give their contributions to the cause of world peace and the development of friendly relations between the people of the United States and Japan.
Currently Tahara City Mayor Katsuyuki Suzuki, Princeton Mayor Robert Hurst and Gibson County Commission President Bob Townsend continue the tradition of friendship. Since 2005, visitations between both communities have brought together governmental leaders, business leaders, teachers, students, and families while bridging the divide of two nations and two cultures.
