Former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso led several Japanese lawmakers on a visit to an elementary school in Greater Taichung on Sunday to thank people at the school for their donations to help Japan after it was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.
Students, teachers and administrators at Jianmin Elementary School in Greater Taichung donated NT$671,074, an act of kindness that Aso said Japan would never forget.
Aso and 29 Liberal Democrat lawmakers were greeted by students who sang and presented paintings and koinobori — carp-shaped windsocks — to welcome them.
Photo: CNA
Aso, in recalling his country’s own suffering from the March 11 disasters, remembered the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan in 1999, which destroyed the lives of many families and flattened Jianmin Elementary School.
He said that Japanese newspapers covered the school’s recent donations to help with disaster relief efforts and that many Japanese were deeply touched by their act, which is why he arranged to visit the school while in Taiwan for the Double Ten National Day celebration.
School principal Hsieh Chin-li (謝進立) said Japan had reached out to help the school following the 1999 earthquake and now that Japan was facing difficulties, the school was doing what it could to repay its kindness.
Although the donation did not represent a large amount, Hsieh said he hoped it could help Japan recover after such a terrible ordeal and also teach students a valuable lesson about how to help others when they are facing hardship.
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