Montana and Kumamoto share a sister state relationship of over 40 years that has grown into one of the strongest US-Japan partnerships. From trade offices facilitating business ties to robust student exchanges, this relationship demonstrates lasting collaboration and friendship.
On January 22nd, 2025, the Montana Department of Commerce and the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle hosted a reception at the Montana State Capital in celebration of the Montana-Japan relationship. Japan has become one of Montana’s top economic partners, purchasing over $240 million in exports in 2024—including wheat and coal. Its most prominent export industries include agricultural products, minerals, and chemicals. In addition, Montana has maintained a sister state relationship with the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto since 1982.
This unique partnership between the “Big Sky Country” Montana and the “Fire Country” Kumamoto was established with the support of Mike Mansfield, who served as US ambassador to Japan from 1977 to 1989. Ambassador Mansfield recommended that his home state of Montana establish a sister state relationship upon visiting Kumamoto prefecture in 1979, sparking discussions that led to the partnership. The relationship was formalized on July 22nd, 1982, when then-Kumamoto Governor Issei Sawada and former Montana Governor Ted Schwinden signed an agreement to “promote interchange in the fields of industry, culture, and education” and “encourage the growth of goodwill and understanding between [their people].”
Montana opened its second Japan Trade Office in Kumamoto in 1990. Following the closure of the state’s first trade office in Tokyo in 1993, the Kumamoto office—part of Montana’s Department of Commerce—is the state’s only remaining trade office in Japan. The trade representative running this office, Mako Sakaguchi, shared some of the key roles the office fulfills in a recent interview with East-West Center Young Professionals Tommis Meyer and Nanami Nishimoto. These are largely centered around promoting Montana and its various economic opportunities to stakeholders in Japan, encouraging them to invest in or expand operations to the state. The office also serves as a foothold for American firms and entrepreneurs looking to expand into the Japanese market by providing guidance to navigate trade laws.
Strong trade relations have facilitated large-scale business partnerships. For example, NIPPN, Japan’s largest flour mill company, acquired a pasta factory in Montana over twenty years ago and has continuously invested in expanding its operations. Representative Sakaguchi highlighted that the nature of business exchanges and partnership between Montana and Kumamoto has evolved with global trends: though agricultural trade dominated conversations several decades ago, conversations are now centered around bioscience. Sakaguchi also shared recent developments in photonics, including a webinar by Montana experts for a Kumamoto audience in January and an optical engineering exhibition slated for April.
While she was proud of the trade office’s work in facilitating business ties, Representative Sakaguchi spoke of educational exchanges as the key foundation of the robust Montana-Kumamoto partnership. Its resilience has been recognized by Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials for its consistent programming and collaboration. Representative Sakaguchi highlighted that residents of the both rural regions are deeply family-oriented and have a strong sense of community. These shared values contributed to their history of successful educational exchange. Student exchanges have been conducted since 1982, and Representative Sakaguchi identified the quick establishment of sister school status between universities in Montana and Kumamoto in the same year as “especially important” to this relationship.
This foundation has expanded into other levels of education as well: Montana and Kumamoto now have four sister high schools, the newest of which was established in 2020. Over the past 20 years that Sakaguchi has served in the trade office, she noted that student exchanges, once dominated by university programs, have greatly expanded at the high school level. These high school exchanges offer students the opportunity to find a second home and family on the other side of the world. Thanks to this extensive and long-lasting educational exchange and the resilient foundations it has created, Sakaguchi expressed that even if the trade office or even the sister state relationship were to become neglected, Montana-Kumamoto ties would remain strong.
Note: the interview with Representative Sakaguchi was conducted in Japanese. All references to the interview have been translated to English by the authors and should not be taken as direct quotes.
The Sister Cities Series covers notable Sister City Partnerships with Asia across the United States, highlighting cooperation and exchange serving as a foundation to improve relations and understanding between peoples and localities in the United States and the Indo-Pacific.
Nanami Nishimoto is a Spring 2025 Young Professional at the East-West Center in Washington. She is a graduate student at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) with a B.A. in International Studies, majoring in IR and minoring in German.
Tommis Meyer is a Spring 2025 Young Professional Intern at the East-West Center in Washington. Tommis is also in his final semester pursuing an undergraduate degree in Global International Relations at American University under its Joint Degree Program with Ritsumeikan University in Japan.