Yaotsu-cho announced its 'City Commitment to Peace' declaration on February 2, 1990 in light of Chiune Sugihara's humanitarian achievements and the honor of having served as his birthplace (b. 1900, d.1986) and followed it by establishing the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Fund on June 20, 1991. 1994 saw the completion of The Hill of Humanity Park. The Fund formed the basis for the long-awaited construction of the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Hall in 2000. It honors the lone diplomat whose brave efforts saved precious lives. The diplomat, Chiune Sugihara, who hailed from Yaotsu-cho, defied the Japanese government on humanitarian grounds to issue transit visas to save the irreplaceable lives of a number of the several thousand people refugees fleeing Nazi Germany through Poland and Lithuania during his service as a Consul representative at the Japanese Consulate in European Lithuania during the Second World War. His brave actions were finally recognized world-wide and memorials honoring him were established in Lithuania and Israel, with Lithuania even naming a street, "Sugihara Avenue", in honor of him.