More than 300 dignitaries and guests gathered in Greater Tainan on Sunday to commemorate Japanese civil engineer Yoichi Hatta and his wife, Toyoki Yonemura, for their dedication and contribution to Taiwan’s economy and agricultural development.
The event was held at the Yoichi Hatta Memorial Park(八田與一紀念園區) at the Wushanto Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), one of the projects designed and built by Hatta during his 32 years of service in Taiwan from 1910 to 1942. A large Japanese delegation also attended the event, including Hatta’s daughter-in-law, Ayako, and other family members.
Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) unveiled a bronze statue of Yonemura, a commissioned artwork by Yoshiki Murai.
Photo: CNA
Organizers said the statue gives a full rendering of the couple’s moving life story, with Yonemura as a virtuous woman and a loving wife, providing a resolute supporting force to her husband.
“Hatta made great contributions to Taiwan with his construction of irrigation networks and water reservoirs. Farmers’ lives and agricultural development benefited enormously from his engineering projects... He turned barren lands into productive granaries,” Lai said.
“He is also the link to the sister-city friendship between Greater Tainan and Kanazawa City, Hatta’s hometown,” the mayor said.
Hatta, also known among Taiwanese as the “Father of the Chianan Irrigation System (嘉南大圳),” was a civil engineering graduate from the then-Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) in 1910, and came to Taiwan that year.
Working for the Japanese colonial government at the time, Hatta was the chief engineer who designed and built a vast network of irrigation channels, measuring more than 16,000km in length, to cover more than 100,000 hectares of farmland around Chiayi and Tainan.
The project took 10 years and was completed in 1930. It raised the productivity of the southern plains, with annual harvests of 83,000 tonnes of rice, sugarcane and other crops, directly benefiting 600,000 farmers.
Hatta was killed in 1942, onboard a Japanese ship that was sunk in a submarine attack during World War II. He was on his way to Manila, where the Japanese government had sent him to develop agriculture in the Philippines.
His body was found, and after cremation, a portion of his ashes was taken to Taiwan for burial in a gravesite at the reservoir.
Local residents had built a statue for the Japanese engineer in 1931 to pay tribute to his contributions. However, they hid the statue for 40 years from 1941, fearing the Japanese government and later the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government would want to melt down the statue for war materials and for political reasons.
Only when the political climate began to change in 1981 did local residents uncover the statue for reinstallation at the Wushanto Reservoir park.
Despite her sadness at her husband’s death in 1942, Yonemura remained in Taiwan with her children until the end of World War II.
Hatta and Yonemura raised two boys and six girls in their 32 years in Taiwan. When Japan surrendered in 1945, all Japanese citizens were ordered to return home, including all the Hatta children.
Yonemura committed suicide on Sept. 1, 1945, by jumping into the reservoir her husband had built. Before her death, Yonemura had told one of the family members that her life was devoted to her husband and she wanted to remain by her husband’s side, so both of them could remain in the area in spirit to protect the reservoir and the irrigation networks.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS