National Taipei University of Education art professor Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗) and a Taiwanese taiko drum group are to receive awards from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recognition of their efforts to promote friendly relations between the two countries and help build mutual understanding, the ministry said.
The Japanese minister of foreign affairs commendation list for this year was published on Wednesday. It included the Taiwan Taiko Association and Lin, who chairs the National Culture and Arts Foundation.
Lin was cited for her efforts to expand cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan through art, while the taiko association was commended for its promotion of Japanese culture in Taiwan, the ministry said on its Web site.
Photo: CNA
Lin graduated from National Taiwan Normal University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in art and went on to earn a master’s and a doctorate degree in education at the University of Tokyo.
She served as director of the National Palace Museum between 2006 and 2008, and head of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum from 1996 to 2000.
Lin and the association are to receive the award in Tokyo on Tuesday next week, the ministry said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association expressed gratitude to Lin and the taiko group, saying that their selfless devotion had helped advance relations between the two countries.
The commendations are each year presented to “people and groups with outstanding achievements in international fields” in acknowledgment of their “contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries and areas.”
The awards are also aimed at boosting public understanding of and support for the activities of the recipients, the ministry said.
This year, 205 people and 49 groups were listed, including Seki Kimi, advisor to the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Beitou Association, who was cited for his promotion of Japanese culture in Taiwan and Wakabyashi Masahiro, a professor in Waseda University’s Political Science and Economics Department, for his promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and Taiwan.
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