Tsukuba is located 50 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It has a total area of approximately 29,000 hectares, which is about half the size of the 23 wards of Tokyo, and a population of nearly 200,000. The relationship between Shenzhen and Tsukuba began in 1992. On June 9, 2004, Tsukuba became a sister city of Shenzhen.