Staff writer

President Kuniwo Nakamura of the Republic of Palau, in Japan for a one-week visit, hopes Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara will respond positively to his recent proposal that Tokyo and Palau's capital, Koror, enter sister-city relations.

"Koror was called 'New Tokyo' (during the Japanese occupation) because there were many Japanese living in the city, and most of the tourists visiting there today are from Tokyo," Nakamura said in an interview this week with The Japan Times.