The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Japan is holding an exhibition promoting Taiwanese manga.
The exhibition, titled “Manga’s Bond,” opened on Thursday, and was organized by the office, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, Kinokuniya Bookstore and the Otsuchi Cultural Exchange Center.
Consisting of 108 works by 113 Japanese artists and 120 by Taiwanese artists, the exhibition represents the close relationship between Taiwan and Japan, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
In 2021, to mark the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the association invited Japanese manga artists to create works on autograph boards to thank Taiwan for its assistance after the disaster, the ministry said.
The works debuted at the Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival that year and were shown nationwide, it said.
Inspired by the association’s gesture, 120 Taiwanese manga artists last year created works on autograph boards to thank Japan for donating 4.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, the ministry said.
The 228 works in the “Manga’s Bond” exhibition were exhibited at last year’s Taipei festival. They are showcased at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Shinjuku, Tokyo, until Sunday, before moving to the Otsuchi Cultural Exchange Center in Iwate Prefecture, and then to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Japan in Tokyo.
Taiwanese and Japanese can overcome language barriers and bond through manga, Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said at the exhibition’s opening ceremony.
Manga can enable Japan and Taiwan to better understand each other’s cultures, Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division Director Norikazu Suzuki said at the opening.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and