Taiwanese model and actress Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) and Japanese band Exile’s Akira yesterday married in Lin’s parents’ hometown of Tainan.
At around 3:20pm, the bride and groom performed traditional wedding rituals at an ancestral hall dedicated to those surnamed Wu (吳) and at a dessert shop nearby.
Sources say 44-year-old Lin chose to have the wedding in Tainan as a tribute to her mother, Wu Tzu-mei (吳慈美), who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Wu also married in Tainan.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Lin also wanted to provide Akira’s friends and family members an opportunity to witness traditional Taiwanese wedding customs, they added.
Starting in the morning, hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous couple.
Lin’s father, Lin Fan-nan (林繁男), and the bride walked down a red carpet to the main hall of the venue. Her father gave Lin’s hand to 38-year-old Akira, born Ryohei Kurosawa.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The bride and groom were wearing a Ralph Lauren custom-made wedding dress and suit.
In his vows, Akira thanked Lin Chi-ling for marrying him and promised to make her the happiest woman in the world.
In her vows, a tearful Lin Chi-ling thanked Akira for making her “believe in love” and pledged that the two would stay together for better or worse into old age.
A banquet was later held at the Tainan Art Museum’s Building 1.
Since open fires are prohibited inside the building, the food was prepared at Silks Place Tainan and then delivered to the museum, sources said, adding that an afterparty was hosted at the hotel.
The dishes served included ingredients from Taiwan and Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, hotel general manager Rebecca Lee (李靖文) said.
The wedding was attended by close friends and family, including Catwalk modeling agency founder Ivan Hong (洪偉明), producer Chiu Li-kwan (邱瓈寬), TV hosts Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) and Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) and actress Tammy Chen (陳怡蓉).
Additional reporting by Wang Chun-chung and CNA. This story has been modified since it was first published.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it