Former Japanese ambassador to Peru Kazuyuki Katayama is said to be taking on the post of Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative next month, an appointment that demonstrates the importance Japan attaches to Taiwan, political commentator Akio Yaita said.
Katayama is to succeed Hiroyasu Izumi as Japan’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, Jiji Press reported on Thursday, citing several people familiar with the matter.
Katayama, who joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983, was appointed ambassador to Peru in July 2020 and was dismissed from the post at his own request this month, it said.
Photo: Lin Tsuei-yi, Taipei Times
As Japan and Taiwan have no formal diplomatic relations, it is customary for former diplomatic officials who retire to take on the post, it said.
Peru is important to Japan, as it is home to the third-largest Japanese immigrant community in the world after Brazil and the US, Yaita wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
The appointment of a former ambassador to Peru to Taiwan shows that the Japanese government attaches great importance to Taiwan, he said.
As “an old friend,” Yaita called Katayama an “experienced diplomat” who is “gentle and clear-minded.”
Yaita said that he hoped to see greater economic cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, as Katayama is an expert on economic issues.
In addition, Yaita hoped that Katayama could use his connections to help Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Peru is a member state.
Katayama has visited Taiwan five times in private and speaks fluent Mandarin, having studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University.
Yaita also thanked Izumi for his hard work over the past four years in Taiwan, saying that he has played a major role in work that led to the relationship between Japan and Taiwan being described as “the best in history” in recent years.
In related news, the Tourism Administration is leading the largest delegation to date in a promotion of Taiwan tourism at this year’s Tourism Expo Japan in Osaka.
The delegation is comprised of 109 representatives of 68 exhibitors, including Taiwanese travel agencies, accommodation companies, airlines and local governments, the agency said in a news release yesterday.
The agency held a business meeting on Wednesday to introduce incentives to visit Taiwan, such as travel deals, tour packages and prize draws, it said.
At the Taiwan booth set up by the agency, potential tourists are able to get travel information, engage in interactive activities such as making bubble milk tea and Lunar New Year’s couplets, and watch performances by professional cheerleading squads, it said.
The agency hoped the four-day event, which lasts until tomorrow, could help raise the number of tourists visiting Taiwan to 6 million this year.
According to statistics on the agency’s Web site, nearly 5 million tourists had visited Taiwan as of last month.
Additional reporting by Lin Tsuei-yi and CNA
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