Togo sits just half a mile west of the Manitoba border, about 72 km northeast of Yorkton, in the Rural Municipality of Cote No. 271. It began as Pelly Siding on the CNR line, and in 1906 it was incorporated as a village and renamed. The new name came from Admiral Togo of the Japanese fleet, a hero of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05.
The name reflects the mood of the day. Japan had won several victories in that war, Britain was its ally, and Japan was a very popular nation throughout the British Empire. Three Saskatchewan towns along the CN line (Togo, Kuroki and Mikado), a regional park called Oyama, and a CN siding named Fukushiama were all named to honour Japanese achievements. Five miles east, the next community on the line, in Manitoba, was named Makaroff after the Russian admiral. Togo was incorporated as a village on September 4, 1906.
Several grain elevators once stood just off the railway. Today Togo still has a post office, a Lutheran church, a curling and skating rink, and a drop-in centre. Besides farming, locals fish and play hockey, and the village is a stop on Via Rail's Winnipeg–Churchill train. Former NHL player Ted Hampson and Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Reginald John Marsden Parker are counted among its notable people.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Togo, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.