The City of Regina has signed a friendship agreement with the Japanese city of Fujioka.

The decision was made at city council this past week, and will see Fujioka’s mayor fly to Regina sometime this summer to make the agreement official.

Mayor Michael Fougere said the history of Regina and Fujioka dates back to 1991, with students traveling back and forth for their studies.

“During that time a relationship was built between the mayor of Fujioka and the mayor of Regina,” Fougere said. “We’ll meet and talk about some general commonalities and how we can work together moving forward,” Fougere added.

Fujioka has about the same population as Medicine Hat, Alberta.

At this time, Mayor Fougere said he does not favour a twinning arrangement due to travel and associated costs.