A series of activities will take place throughout Taiwan to mark the one-year anniversary of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, including events to show Japan’s gratitude for Taiwan’s disaster relief efforts, a Japanese official stationed in Taipei said.
A reception will be held tomorrow in Taipei to thank Japan’s “Taiwanese friends” and bring them up to date on reconstruction following the disaster, Interchange Association, Japan, Secretary-General Kenichi Okada said.
The association represents Japanese interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Photo: CNA
Japanese Representative to Taiwan Tadashi Imai is also running a notice in major Taiwanese newspapers today to express Japan’s gratitude for the aid and generous donations from the Taiwanese public, Okada said.
In the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that battered northeastern Japan and led to a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Taiwan donated about ￥20 billion (US$260 million) to the victims, 90 percent of which came from private donors.
Two television programs made to thank Taiwan for its help will also be broadcast on two channels in the coming week, Okada said, adding that a commercial thanking Taiwanese will be shown on several local stations.
Citing statistics that showed the number of Japanese visitors to Taiwan reached a record high last year, Okada said the record “just shows that Japanese really love Taiwan and feel grateful for Taiwan’s help.”
Okada, who assumed his post in August last year, said he was touched by the story of six Japanese swimmers who completed a 150km relay across part of the Pacific Ocean as a gesture of gratitude to Taiwanese.
In September last year, the swimmers battled rain and strong currents while a typhoon was approaching, Okada said.
Their determination to complete the swim under such difficult conditions “just proved how grateful the Japanese people are to Taiwan,” Okada said.
Meanwhile, today in Nantou County a foundation will host a series of events at the site of a paper dome from Japan to commemorate the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami.
A concert, photo exhibition and other events will take place at the Newland Community Education Center in Puli Township (埔里), where the dome is located.
The dome, built from 58 giant cardboard columns, was moved in 2008 from Japan where it had served as a temporary church following the Kobe earthquake in 1995.
According to the New Homeland Foundation, which is organizing the event, the church serves to remind victims of disaster that they can become stronger if they stand united.
A prayer meeting was held at the dome following the disaster last year.
The foundation said Japanese harpist Rikako Fujioka, who held a fundraising concert in her country after an earthquake hit Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999, will perform with her students and friends at the dome to thank Taiwanese for the concern they showed.
Photos of the disaster areas by Japanese photographer Satoshi Ueda, who lost his mother in the tsunami, will be shown at the dome until April 8 in an exhibition called “Tears of the Earth.”
Several Taiwanese artists will also take part in the commemorative activities by selling their works to raise money to help with reconstruction in the disaster-affected areas.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS