Late in 1958, the officials of the city and Port of Shimizu, Japan proposed to the officials of the Port of Stockton who were visiting in Japan, that the two cities become affiliated. This proposal was relayed to the City Council of Stockton by Port Director Elmo Ferrari, following which almost a year was consumed in study and investigation. By agreement, October 16, 1959 was established as the beginning of the week as "Sister City Week," and in Shimizu by special ceremonies attended by Mayor and Mrs. Dean DeCarli and Mel Bennett, City Editor of the Stockton Record, and Mrs. Bennett representing the City.

At the time of the establishment of the first Sister City in 1959, a Mayor's Sister City Committee was named by Mayor Dean DeCarli to provide guidance and suggestions with respect to the Sister City program. Stockton's first sister city relationship was established in 1959 with the Japanese port city of Shimizu. Located on the eastern coast of Japan, approximately 100 miles southwest of Tokyo, Shimizu is an economically diversified city of 242,000 persons. It is one of Japan's important ports, with widely recognized shipbuilding and ship repair facilities. Agriculturally, it is a center of green tea culture and mandarin oranges production. Scenically, it boasts one of the most breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji to be found in Japan, and to the south, Nihon Daira plateau, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

Symbolic of the sister city relationship, Shimizu has named a four-lane highway traffic bridge the "Stockton Bridge." In turn, Stockton has named the levee road on the south bank of Smith's Canal, Shimizu Drive.