Household registration offices nationwide have since Tuesday been flooded with people applying to change their name to “salmon” (guiyu, 鮭魚), after Japanese sushi restaurant chain Akindo Sushiro promised free meals for anyone with the name.
Yesterday and today, those with proof of the unusual moniker can receive free meals for their entire table, while people with homophonic names can enjoy half price and those with at least one homophonic character can receive 10 percent off.
Twenty-eight people had claimed free meals as of 3pm yesterday, while at least 1,000 people had participated in the promotion, Akindo Sushiro said.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
An applicant must pay NT$80 for a new identification card and household registration certificate, the Taipei Department of Civil Affairs said, adding that at least 20 people had applied by early afternoon.
As of late afternoon, New Taipei City and Kaohsiung had 26 people who changed their name to “salmon,” while Taichung had 22, and Tainan and Taoyuan each had 14.
In Taichung, a college student surnamed Kuo (郭) changed her name to Kuo “Salmon Rice Bowl” (郭鮭魚丼飯) to treat her friends, but told reporters that she plans to change it back tomorrow.
Two others managed to eat NT$13,000 worth of sushi in one sitting with their friends, saying online: “I do not think we will want to eat salmon again for a while.”
Another participant set a new record for longest name at 36 characters, already dethroning the previous titleholder, a Tainan-based taxi driver who applied for his 25-character name on Feb. 26.
The name translates to “Chen loves Taiwan, abalone, tuna, salmon, snow crab, sea urchin, scallop, lobster and beef, Mayfull, Palais de Chine, Regent, Hilton, Caesar Park, Hotel Royal.”
While people are free to choose their own name, the Ministry of the Interior urged caution, as it can only be legally changed three times.
A man surnamed Hsu (許) learned this the hard way after his mother informed him that she had already changed his name twice when he was a child.
Screenshots of Hsu’s Line messages went viral on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board, eliciting sympathy and skepticism among those who said that the office would have informed him that it was his last change.
“Each person has three chances to change their name,” the ministry wrote on Facebook. “Everyone, please consider your name carefully.”
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua, Su Meng-chuanand Chen Wen-chan
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
INTEL: China’s ships are mapping strategic ocean floors, including near Guam, which could aid undersea cable targeting and have military applications, a report said China’s oceanographic survey and research ships are collecting data in the Indo-Pacific region — possibly to aid submarine navigation, detect or map undersea cables, and lay naval mines — activities that could have military applications in a conflict with Taiwan or the US, a New York Times report said. The article, titled “China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash,” was written by Chris Buckley and published on Thursday. Starboard Maritime Intelligence data revealed that Chinese research ships last year repeatedly scanned the ocean floor east of Taiwan’s maritime border, and about 400km east and west of Guam; “waters that