Chuo University professor Ryoichi Matsuno has visited Taiwan Nation Alliance convener Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) to thank him for his contribution to his students’ research into the 228 Incident, the results of which were published as a special report in the Japanese school’s magazine.
Matsuno said his Japanese college students only knew of Taiwan’s gastronomic delicacies and the aid provided after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in 2011, but very few were aware of the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime and the resulting brutal crackdown that left tens of thousands dead and led to nearly four decades of martial law.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Matsuno said his interest in the Incident and its connection to the university was piqued when he visited the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum in 2012.
“The sight of the cap often worn by Chuo University students in one of the display cases — which was on display for more than six decades — was the start of it all,” he said.
Matsuno said he initially thought that the owner of the cap, Lin Lien-tsung (林連宗), was the only Chuo University student who was killed during the Incident, but further investigation after his return to Japan revealed that 17 other people who had once studied at the university also lost their lives.
Research into why Lin was embroiled in the Incident, the background leading up to the uprising and how it played out was the topic of his students’ thesis on the oral history of the Incident.
The research included interviews with the families of 228 Incident victims, including Lee Jung-chang (李榮昌) and it was recently published as Testimony of a City of Sadness — Taiwan’s 228 Incident and Chuo Graduates.
During his meeting with Yao, Matsuno gave him copies of the thesis for Yao and the 228 Memorial Foundation.
Learning from his conversation with Yao that many victims of the Incident were unable to ask for reparation from the government due to their inability to prove their family members had died in the crackdown, Matsuno said he felt the promotion of the thesis would help spread knowledge of the Incident in Japan.
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