Taipei’s Xia Hai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟) in Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area is to send an icon representing its Moon Elder to Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, where the matchmaking deity is expected to stay for a month reputedly to help local residents find a marriage partner and further cultural understanding between the two nations.
While the icon has been sent to Japan twice in the past, this year the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau Taipei Office arranged the transfer to promote Taipei’s Universiade Games next year, the Taipei City Government said.
Bureau head Yoshinaga Ryota on Wednesday went to the temple to formally escort the icon from its shrine in preparation for its journey to Okinawa, which is scheduled for Sunday.
Photo: Lo Chien-yi, Taipei Times
Temple manager Chen Wen-wen (陳文文) said Dadaocheng residents have venerated the deity for many generations, adding that the temple god’s track record in answering prayers was proven by an abundance of business families that hailed from the district.
The Gao (高) family of I-Mei Foods Co, the Huang family of Typhone Food Co and the Lee family of Liang Hwa Foods Co are among those who have roots in the neighborhood, Chen said.
About a decade ago, the Moon Elder shrine was established in an annex of the temple, and the patron of marriages soon became a popular attraction for visitors from Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, as well as tourists from Western nations, Chen said.
“The Moon Elder brought a lot of ‘oil and incense money’ [voluntary donations] to the temple, and many patrons for the hotels and shops in this neighborhood,” she said.
Chen said the Moon Elder has a strong following in Japan.
Last year, Chen attended a cultural exchange event in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, and an elderly Japanese mother came up to hold her hand, Chen said.
“I visited Taiwan half-a-year ago to pray for a match for my daughter at the Xia Hai Temple and she is now wed,” Chen quoted the Japanese woman as saying.
Although the Moon Elder icon is blessing the people of Okinawa, the faithful in Taiwan need not fear any diminution in the potency of the god’s blessings, Chen said, adding that she is certain its divine presence is capable of attending the needs of two places at the same time.
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