Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday attended the unveiling of a repaired statue of Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta that was decapitated last month, saying Japan-Taiwan relations are now stronger.
Lai apologized to the Hatta family for the city’s failure to protect the statue and called the decapitation a test that revealed true feelings in both nations.
Members of Hatta’s family, who were also in attendance, thanked the city for its quick repair of the statue and said that Japan-Taiwan ties would not be affected.
Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times
The statue, located near Tainan’s Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), honors Hatta, who is known as the “father of the Chianan Irrigation System” for his contributions to the development of irrigation during the Japanese colonial era.
The statue’s head was removed on April 15, allegedly by former Taipei city councilor Lee Cheng-lung (李承龍), who later told prosecutors he did not agree with the historical status afforded to Hatta.
The Chia-Nan Irrigation Association and the Chi Mei Museum cooperated to repair the statue, opting to use an identical replacement head when the original could not be found.
A commemorative ceremony for Hatta is to be held this afternoon, and is to be attended by his eldest grandson, Shuichi Hatta, and other family members, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Director-General Kinzo Nakagun, Kanazawa City Mayor Yukiyoshi Yamano and Kaga City Deputy Mayor Atsushi Kawai.
Association president Yang Ming-feng (楊明風) said the repaired statue would be well-protected and well-monitored with improved lighting and cameras.
“The water shortages we face these days really highlight the importance of Yoichi Hatta’s contributions to irrigation and the Wushantou Reservoir,” Yang said.
Meanwhile, city officials have expressed concern that statues of other historical Japanese figures might come under attack, such as that of Japanese colonial-era Tainan mayor Matao Hatori.
Hatori defied protests from fellow Japanese to reinstate Confucian rituals and repair Chihkan Tower (赤崁樓, formerly Fort Provintia), where a commemorative statue of him was later installed.
The city government requested police to step up patrols at all statue sites, saying that statues of some historical Taiwanese figures, such as Japanese colonial-era lawyer and 228 Incident hero Tang De-Jhang (湯德章) and Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), might also become targets.
Police said they cannot enter historic sites at will, but have been in touch with Chihkan Tower security guards, advising them to be on the lookout for suspicious people.
One tour guide said statues of historical Japanese figures such as Hatta, Hatori and Goto Shinpei, who served as head of Taiwanese civilian affairs under Japanese rule, are popular among Japanese tourists.
Hatori is particularly notable for his protection of Taiwanese culture and artifacts such as Confucian rituals and the bell at Kaiyuan Temple in Tainan’s North District (北區), the guide said.
Additional reporting by Wang Chieh
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
Three human skeletons and artifacts believed to be about 400 years old were unearthed by construction workers at National Ilan University in Yilan County, the university said yesterday. The discoveries were made on May 10 as workers were digging to expand the College of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science’s facilities, the university said in a statement. The skeletons were found at three sites, along with glass beads, copper bells and rings, discs and a fish-shaped metal knot, it said. The find is likely connected to the “Old Baili Village” (擺厘舊社, Bai Li Jiu She), an as-yet-undiscovered Kavalan settlement that has been mentioned in