In October 2017, Reims became the 6th twin city of Nagoya (department of Aichi). At the origin of the links between the two cities, is Tsugouharu Foujita (Tsuguharu Fujita) (1886-1968), Japanese naturalized French, who was one of the most whimsical and fascinating figures of the School of Paris in the years crazy. In 1959, when the painter converted to Catholicism, he was baptized in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Reims. A few years later, in 1965, with the support of René Lalou, director of the Mumm Champagne house, he undertook the construction of a chapel in Reims, the Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix chapel, of which he was all both builder and decorator. Sensitive to the artist's attachment to this city, in 2013 his heirs made a major donation of his works to the Museum of Fine Arts in Reims.

The Nagoya City Museum of Fine Arts itself possessing a large collection of works by painters from the School of Paris, including works by Foujita, Nagoya ardently wished for a rapprochement with Reims with a view to cooperating on major projects, going well beyond friendships cultivated within the framework of a classic twinning. The good auspices under which the first exchanges around the figure of Foujita took place led to the signing of a memorandum of friendship between the two museums in 2013. In 2017, the Nagoya Museum of Fine Arts inaugurated an exhibition highlighting the honor of the works of the museum of fine arts of Reims.

The success of the collaboration led to the conclusion in October 2017 of a twinning agreement. Signed in Nagoya, it came to seal the good agreement between the two cities while broadening their cooperation to the fields of education, tourism (gastronomy and historical heritage, etc.), and the economy. In May 2018, it was Reims' turn to celebrate the twinning. During the ceremony organized on this occasion in the presence of many citizens of Reims, the Japanese delegation led by Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Nagoya, was welcomed by the choir of the conservatory of Reims (

Arnaud Robinet, Mayor of Reims, said this twinning agreement formed the bedrock of the relationship the two cities will build. Their dialogue on cooperation in the fields of economy, tourism and sport has already made good progress. The mayor of Reims strongly hoped that this dialogue would pave the way for exchanges in the most varied fields. Reims and Nagoya are now more than partners, true friends. Arnaud Robinet concluded on the pride of the Rémois in being friends of the citizens of Nagoya.

These remarks, largely reflected by the warmth of the welcome given to the Japanese delegation, bode well for the development of ties between the two cities.

Text & photo credits: CLAIR Paris