While a large city like New York has sister metropolises such as Cairo and London, the "Welcome to Hanover" sign displays two inconspicuous flags in reverence of its little-known sister, or "twin," towns of Joigny, France, and Nihonmatsu, Japan.
Hanover developed relations with its sister cities in the 1990s for the purpose of fostering cultural exchange, and spends $2,000 per city each year to maintain friendly contacts.
"It's been a rich relationship for the town of Hanover," Town Manager Julia Griffin said, "and by rich I mean culturally rich."
Hanover and Joigny were joined in a "twining ceremony" in 1993, largely due to a close relationship formed by the Hanover-Joigny Exchange Program, which was established in 1990 by local residents to promote student travel between the cities. Hanover became Joigny's third sister city, after Godalming, England, and Mayen, Germany.
Travel to Joigny is not limited to students, however, with many various local organizations, from musical groups to sports teams, traveling to Joigny and sharing American culture.
"Many people have just gone over on their own," Hanover-Joigny exchange committee treasurer Bob Riessen said. "Some high school students have gone the entire year and have stayed an entire year with a family. It's a variety of different approaches, and we're hoping to expand that and have many different groups go over."
Meanwhile, Hanover's relationship with its other sister city, Nihonmatsu, Japan, is technically called a "friendship city" in accordance with Japanese culture and translation. The connection is mainly in terms of travel, but also focuses more on Dartmouth.
The pact was made officially in 1998, primarily through the Dartmouth Club of Japan's efforts throughout the 1990s to send Japanese students to Dartmouth during the summer. Nihonmatsu became interested in furthering the relationship with Hanover because one of its most famous residents, Kanichi Asakawa, who is credited with founding Asian Studies in America, graduated from Dartmouth in 1899. Asakawa went on to receive his doctorate from Yale University and was the first Asian professor at a major university in America.
Dartmouth sends its Asian and Middle Eastern Language Studies Abroad program to Nihonmatsu. Travel goes in the reverse direction at the end of the Japanese school year, usually late July or early August, when Hanover receives a small group of students and adults for the weekend. In what was described by Kate Connolly, vice chair of the Hanover Board of Selectmen, as the "Asakawa pilgrimage," students stay with Hanover families, then move on to New Haven, Conn., to visit Asakawa's grave and finally to New York City to return to Japan.
"It's effectively the path that Dr. Asakawa took. We're the first stop because that's where he first was," Connolly said. "I like to think they have the most fun here."
