The city of Hamada in Shimane Prefecture plans to form a friendship agreement with Bhutan, after merging with a small town that had established ties with the tiny Himalayan state.
The town of Misumi concluded a friendship accord with Bhutan in 1994, but exchanges have stalled since the municipality merged with Hamada in 2005.
Any such agreement, which could be signed as early as autumn, would make Hamada the only municipality in Japan with friendship ties to Bhutan.