A memorial museum for Taiwanese independence activist Su Beng (史明) is expected to open in June next year, organizers said.
The museum would have two locations — one at the site of Su’s former residence in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊), and one in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro commercial and entertainment district, where Su worked in his youth to earn money for independence activities, the organizers said.
The Ikebukuro branch would be on the fourth floor of the building that housed a noodle shop where Su once worked, which now houses a restaurant called Shinchimmi that was owned by Su, they said.
Photo courtesy of the Su Beng Education Foundation
Both branches would have book exhibits, audio recordings and videos of Su’s life and activities, and other items, they said.
There is an initial fundraising goal of NT$4.2 million (US$138,719), which, when met, would see the Su Beng Education Foundation begin organizing items for the exhibits, they said.
The foundation would cooperate with national museums and university libraries to collect and organize items, they said.
Photo courtesy of the Su Beng Education Foundation
As items would need to be cataloged, fumigated and stored in temperature-controlled environments by national museums, the Sinjhuang and Ikebukuro branches would only borrow items at the discretion of those museums and return them after a display period, the organizers said.
As Su wrote under aliases for many decades to avoid arrest by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, cataloging written materials would take at least three years, the organizers said.
The Sinjhuang site needs renovations due to termite damage, they said.
“When the Ikebukuro branch is opened, visitors will be able to take in history while eating lor mee (鹵麵) noodles, and imagine Su’s experience during his 40 years in Japan’s underground movement,” said student Na Su-phok (藍士博), one of the organizers.
Su considered selling the restaurant in 2015 to invest more into the independence movement in Taiwan, Na said.
At the time, Jiho Chang (張之豪), who is now a Keelung city councilor for the Democratic Progressive Party, and others launched a campaign to save the restaurant, as they considered it an important historical site, Na said.
“Now that Su is gone, we hope we can hold on to Shinchimmi, which is why this fundraising effort is so important,” he said.
Su died on Sept. 20 last year at the age of 100.
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