The City of Tacoma and Kokura, Japan established a sister city relationship in 1959.
In 1963, the five Japanese cities of Moji, Kokura, Wakamatsu, Yahata and Tobata joined to form the “super city” of Kitakyushu. One year later, the ports of Moji, Kokura and Dokai joined to form the Port of Kitakyushu.