A delegation from Japan’s House of Councillors led by lawmaker Hirofumi Takinami is to meet with President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) while visiting Taiwan from today to Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The delegation of five would also meet Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the ministry said.
The lawmakers are part of the House of Councillors’ “TY Group,” a pro-Taiwan group initiated by Takinami and former house member Yumi Yoshikawa.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Takinami, who is married to a Taiwanese woman, has often spoken up on Taiwan’s behalf.
The former state minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries was also instrumental to a change made earlier this year to Japan’s household registration system allowing Taiwanese to list “Taiwan” as their nationality.
In a lecture yesterday organized by the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan, Takinami said he realized the importance of the issue in 2002, when he discovered his wife’s nationality was listed as “China” when registering their marriage.
When he raised the problem with the local government, he was told it was a national-level issue.
Takinami is leader of the household registration task force at the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council.
After repeated talks with Japan’s Ministry of Justice, the team decided to incorporate the change into an already planned revision of the country’s household registration law to minimize political resistance and foreign pressure, he said.
Takinami said he first sought political support by holding private meetings with officials.
He worked “behind-the-scenes” to avoid any high-profile publicity and prevent any foreign interference before the bill was finalized, he added.
He said that people doubted the plan’s success, but based on his bureaucratic experience, once the government finalized the bill’s direction, it was unlikely to be overturned.
Takinami’s wife, Shiori Takinami, also spoke at the event, saying that it was challenging for the Liberal Democratic Party to campaign for the bill, as people questioned whether the party was overly focused on Taiwan.
However, with quiet and persistent work, understanding eventually comes, she said.
Even though she is now a Japanese citizen, she said her birthplace and hometown are in Taiwan, and vowed to continue fighting for Taiwan and Japan-Taiwan relations with her husband.
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