Although Totoro-themed murals are reeling in tourists and business opportunities, many residents of Shihlin (石林) in Tainan’s Danei District (大內) said they are having second thoughts about their community’s social media celebrity status.
The district became an Internet sensation in 2014, shortly after local couple Eva and Kevin painted a series of decorative murals based on the characters from Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 animated feature My Neighbor Totoro.
Eva said they painted the first mural of a panda for her mother, who was babysitting at the time and wanted something to keep the children happy.
Soon, other neighbors began requesting murals for their houses and the couple eventually painted more than 20 murals across the district, most of them Totoro-related, she said.
As the murals gained online attention, tourists from all over the country made pilgrimages to the sleepy community, prompting many retirees to go back in business selling fruit, yams and pickles.
However, other residents felt that the noise and littering the visitors brought to the neighborhood was more trouble than iit was worth.
Hand-painted signs demanding quiet and cleanliness can be seen near the murals.
Shihlin Borough Warden Yang Hsiang-shou (楊享壽) said an unnamed resident who disliked the murals once claimed that a mural of an elephant that Kevin painted had created a malign pachyderm spirit that assailed resident with a ghostly trunk while he was cycling, causing him to fall.
The resident asked the borough office to destroy the elephant mural and halt the painting of murals immediately for the sake of public safety, the warden added.
However, the village’s elderly women tend to have more favorable attitudes toward the murals and the business they have brought, as many have set up stands to sell produce.
The murals have had a positive impact on the local economy, but the community lacks the funds to buy trash bins and mobile toilets, Shihzihlai Community Development Association president Tseng Po-yang (曾博揚) said.
The absence of such facilities is detrimental to the quality of community life and the tourists’ experience, Tseng said.
“The murals’ themes should have stronger local characteristics, and we should consider selling distinctive local products and other cultural industry merchandise without cutting into the profits of local residents,” he said.
However, the popularity of the town is showing signs of abating and some visitors complained that the murals, which are all based on the same set of anime characters, are repetitive and infringe on the Totoro franchise’s copyrights.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS