An 86-year-old Taiwan-born Japanese man is to receive a certificate of thanks from the Hualien County Government today for helping the county rebuild after the April 3 earthquake.
Shoji Yasutomi is a wansei, the Japanese term used to describe people who were born or grew up in Taiwan and are descendants of Japanese immigrants who came to Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era.
He had donated ￥1 million (US$6,706) to the county government to help rebuilding efforts after the April 3 earthquake.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
Yasutomi arrived in Taiwan on Saturday and would be visiting Ebisu Confectionery, the shop his grandmother had founded.
His visit is also being documented and recorded by a dedicated crew from Japanese broadcaster NHK.
Yasutomi was born in Hualien County’s Jiye Village (吉野), and his grandparents had founded the confection shop in 1899. The shop was later passed on to Taiwanese pastry chef Chang Fang (張房), who is the grandfather of the current owner, Chang Shun-pin (張舜彬).
The Yasutomi family originated from Tokushima Prefecture and had been one of the first wave of Japanese to arrive in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period, Chang Shun-pin said.
The family started the shop, because they longed for the traditional Japanese wagashi confectionery during their stay in Taiwan, Chang Shun-pin said.
Although the Chang family took over the shop after the Yasutomi family returned to Japan, they still treasured its history, Chang Shun-pin said, adding that they still use wrapping paper imported from Japan and a pennant marking the store winning a competition.
The pennant had the official seal of the then-Japanese governor of Taiwan, he said, adding the store also won the award during the “Taiwan Exposition: In Commemoration of the First Forty Years of Colonial Rule” in 1935.
Yasutomi had only been seven years old when his family returned to Japan, Chang Shun-pin said, adding that when his grandfather and father were still alive, there were regular visits from Japanese visiting the Chang family.
Chang Shun-pin said he had visited the Yasutomi family in Japan in March, during which Yasutomi said he was contemplating visiting the county in the fall.
When the earthquake struck on April 3, Yasutomi offered to donate ￥1 million, Chang Shun-pin said. However, he had persuaded him to make the donation to the county government instead, as the Chang family residence had not suffered significant damage during the earthquake.
Yasutomi donated the money to the county government and had specified that the funds go towards restoring Cingsiu Temple, which his family had often visited during his childhood in Hualien.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS