The cities of Osaka and San Francisco have been sister cities since 1957, stimulating exchange projects in sports, academics, culture, economics and other fields. In preparation for the celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the sister city relationship next year, the Mayor of Osaka Hirofumi Yoshimura paid an official visit to San Francisco in August 2016. The Dean of the OCU Graduate School of Medicine Kenji Ohata and Professor Norifumi Kawada of the OCU Graduate School of Medicine Department of Hepatology joined the City of Osaka delegation. In addition to a meeting with the Mayor of San Francisco Edwin Lee, the delegation visited high tech companies located in the San Francisco area, many of which are world-leading in fields such as bioscience and IT.

Report

After arriving in San Francisco the delegation visited the San Francisco Travel Association and the Museum of Modern Art to hear how the city of San Francisco attracts and handles its large number of visiting tourists. That evening the group met with Consul-General Jun Yamada at his official residence, together with members of the Sister City Association for discussions.

The delegation also visited the San Francisco City Hall for the signing of a joint declaration by San Francisco and Osaka City, followed by a promotional seminar ‘DISCOVER OSAKA’. Mayor Yoshimura and the Director General of the Osaka City Economic Strategy Bureau Masayuki Inoue gave an overview of Osaka’s attractions and major projects and Professor Kawada gave a presentation about Osaka City University Hospital’s MedCity21 and the development of ‘Precision medicine’ in Osaka. Six venture companies from Osaka were also given the opportunity to introduce their technologies, followed by a meeting for discussions.

　

The delegation also visited Stanford University’s innovation design program and the management division of Bio-X, Stanford University's interdisciplinary research facility for research related to human Health. In the afternoon the group visited an incubation facility in San Jose, followed by a visit to the home ground of the San Francisco 49ers, where they did a tour of the facilities, with special attention to the stadium's state-of-the-art security system. In the evening a gathering took place with the Mayor and other officials of the city of San Jose, local experts and company representatives.