A family in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) has a second chance at regaining its ancestral name thanks to the county government.
The family, surnamed Pan (潘), had applied to resume the surname Hung (洪), but were turned down by the county’s household registration office.
The family said that one of their ancestors was a “mukoyoshi” during the Japanese colonial era — a man who had married into a rich family that did not have any male heirs to pass along the name and the family’s business.
Mukoyoshi is a common practice in Japan, especially for business reasons. It has its origins in that nation’s feudal era when an aristocrat or a warrior only had a daughter. They would adopt a male child or even an adult male, who would marry the daughter and take his new family’s surname.
According to the household registration office, under current regulations it is easier to change a person’s first name, and there have been few examples of Taiwanese who were descendants of mukoyoshi seeking to have their former surname restored.
There are no laws covering such a change, the office said.
It said the family would have to produce paperwork proving there had been a change in surname as well as verifying whether the original Hung had joined the Pan family only as an adopted son, or as a son-in-law as well.
If the family’s application was granted, aside from the six people named in the petition, their sons, grandsons and even their deceased parents and grandparents would also have to have their surnames changed, which would be quite a job, the office said.
However, the Pingtung County Government has overturned the the household registration office’s denial. This means the family can file another application for a name change.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS