Some things never change

I make no secret of my being a Japanophile 親日, but I nonetheless try not to put on the blinders or rose-tinted glasses when it comes to looking at what goes on in the country. Take Japan's attitude toward the conservation of marine resources - please! It's bad enough the Japanese continue to hunt whales under the flimsy "scientific research" premise, buttressed by dubious claims of "culture" (not to mention hilariously ridiculous comparisons to cattle ranching), all to satisfy a small but vocal nationalist clique. Now it's the turn of the Atlantic bluefin tuna to be put at risk. Despite the ever-increasing prices for the fish at sushi restaurants in Japan, despite the dramatically declining stocks in the Atlantic (by up to 80%), despite the irony in having buy fish from the other side of the world in order to maintain the "traditional food culture" line, the so-called "reformist" Hatoyama administration 鳩山由紀夫 worked overtime to defeat the proposal to have Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing and trading banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). If and when the day comes that tuna is no longer on the menu at sushi and sashimi restaurants, the Japanese won't have to look far to find out who was responsible. The nearest mirror will suffice quite nicely.

Some things are not endangered. I took this photo of a betel nut seller talking to a customer. The picture clarity would've been better had I not been such a coward:

Welcome to the Plaza

A short drive from our apartment building, there is a large concrete plaza and underground parking lot. From what I understand, it was built to house an odoriferous traditional market located at the intersection of Yuanhuan and Chungcheng Roads in Fengyuan 豐原. For reasons unknown to me, the market vendors decided against relocation, and the plaza has been sitting unused for several years now. Until today that is. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize it, but this concrete oasis makes an ideal spot for a little girl to ride her tricycle around in, and to play hide-and-seek with her daddy. Not to worry, Fengyuan city fathers - your taxpayer-funded white elephant has finally been put to good use!

Most Taiwanese prefer Japan over China, survey finds

The kind of story that would get under the skin of a Greater China 大中華地區 nationalist, and result in a back-channel tongue lashing given to the KMT 中国国民党, appeared in both the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ () and the China Post this morning. Here is the JT's Kyōdō News 共同通信社 version:

"Taiwan may be in the midst of a thaw in relations with China, but a survey released by Japan's de facto mission in T'aipei 台北 on Tuesday says Taiwanese are more positive about their Japanese neighbors. The annual survey measures Taiwanese attitudes toward Japan. The survey is of more interest this year given attempts by Beijing and Taipei to integrate cross-strait trade and financial services through a free-trade deal and after a number of quarrels between Taipei and Tōkyō 東京. Asked which country Taiwan should be closer to, respondents maintained the pattern reported in 2008, roughly split between China at 33 percent and Japan at 31 percent, with 16 percent preferring the United States. When asked if they had feelings of attachment to Japan, however, 62 percent agreed or strongly agreed. The starkest statistic accompanied the question, 'Other than Taiwan, which is your favorite country?' Fifty-two percent answered Japan, up dramatically from 38 percent last year, while China floundered with 5 percent. The United States managed barely more at 8 percent. Before 1945, Taiwan was Japanese territory for half a century under colonial rule. Consequently, most Taiwanese in their 70s or older speak Japanese. Japan remains a critical trade partner and a leading source of tourism revenue for Taiwan, as reflected in the survey, which confirmed Japan as the No. 1 preferred destination, ahead of Europe. The survey, commissioned by the Interchange Association, Japan, was conducted by Nielsen Taiwan between Dec. 12 and Jan. 11. More than half of the 1,018 respondents were 40 or older."

The China Post (or, more precisely, the Central News Agency), unsurprisingly, chose to include paragraphs referring to territorial and fishing disputes, and noted that:

"...while most Taiwanese still view Taiwan's relationship with Japan as close, the percentage of those listing Japan as their favorite country has dropped from last year, and the appeal of Japanese food was slightly down."

Strangely, there is no link to this story on the Post's homepage, even though all the other Taiwan-related articles from Wednesday's edition can be found there. Still, the message is clear: Taiwan and China may share a common cultural background, but when it comes to Japan, the distinctions and divisions between the two couldn't be more starker.

The Monster that ate Dakeng

While walking around some of the lower hills in T'aichung's 台中 Tak'eng 大坑 area this sunny afternoon, I decided to make a detour to check out a recently constructed temple. Actually, I've been to this one several times already, and even filmed it with my old digital camera. But today I wanted to try out the Casio's so-called "YouTube" function. Here is the result:

As you can see, the temple is relatively new and, with its lawn space, somewhat atypical of what is usually encountered in Taiwan. It's a mishmash of Taoist 道教 and Buddhist design and iconography, with some attempts at cuteness thrown in (did anyone notice the "Happy" heart on one of the Arhats?). I really had hoped to film the interior in greater detail, but I didn't want to disturb the woman there.

Several years ago, there was a hillside fruit orchard with a great view overlooking the Taichung area. Now, there is this:

The view hasn't changed, but the fruit trees have been replaced with this entertainment complex. Though construction was still ongoing, the sounds of karaoke 卡拉OK could be heard coming from within, and people were walking up and down the stairs. The area where Takeng hiking trails 6, 7 and 8 are located has been overrun in recent years with KTV's, with the monster pictured above being the latest (and greatest, judging by its size) addition to the scene. There's just no escaping the sounds of tuneless, off-key warbling while you're on the trails, and things don't look like they're going to get any better (in fact, the new "play spot" pictured above has fenced off a portion of a trail I used to use regularly). Who says Taichung is "soulless"? The people of Taichung love to sing it from the mountains!

Any more KTV's, however (and there's no sign the rate of proliferation is slowing), and they'll eventually be singing the blues.

Another Pleasant Valley Saturday ( with apologies to Goffin and King)

Hiking and butterfly watching with my daughter on a pleasant Saturday morning/afternoon. It feels great to be a father...(to see what things interested Amber, go here.

Return to the hills

It's been a while since I've taken my daughter Amber out for a walk in the hills, so this afternoon seemed like a perfect time to remedy the situation. Following lunch at home, the two of us drove up to Chung-cheng Park 正中公園 and spent some time walking up a trail, then down a mountain road and back to our car, stopping along the way to look at flowers and bugs, and to admire the scenery. Amber was able to walk most of the way by herself, and I only needed to put her in the carrier for one short but steep section of steps. With the weather warming up, I'm looking forward to many more weekend afternoons like this one.

Oden, not Odin

One of the interesting things about living in Taiwan for this Japanophile is the humble dish of eggs, daikon ダイコン, konnyaku コンニャク, fish cakes 蒲鉾 and so on known as oden おでん. In Japan, oden is a winter staple not usually eaten in the other seasons. In Taiwan, however, where it is summer nine months out of the year, oden is sold all year round. Tonight, on a pleasantly warm evening after Amber's swimming class, we had dinner from a flatbed oden truck parked along the new ring road that encircles the outer edges of Fengyuan 豐原. The taste wasn't bad, there were a lot of choices when it came to the ingredients, the owners were friendly and the 唐揚げ side dish was pretty good too. I've certainly done a lot worse than this when it comes to Japanese food in Taiwan!

Back to school

After a number of days of spring-like weather (temperatures in the high 20'sC/high 70'sF), things suddenly took a turn for the cold and wet today - 10C/50F, windy, raining in the morning and overcast the rest of the day. Intrepid fellow that I am, however, I rode the 20 or so kilometers in the cold this afternoon to pay a visit to T'aichung 台中, and Tunghai University 東海大學 in particular. Naturally, when in Tunghai one has to photograph the university's most noted site, the Luce Memorial Chapel, and so one did:

The previous couple of occasions when I'd visited the university and checked out the chapel, the sun had been out and the building had reflected the light, so it was a little strange to see it under more subdued conditions. Also, the other times had both been on weekends, when the area around the chapel becomes a park, and the site is teeming with people. Seeing it standing all alone this afternoon, it struck me for the first time what a simple, yet beautiful design Chen Chi-kwan and I.M. Pei came up with back in the early 1960's. Postwar Christian churches in general have been architectural bores, but not so the Luce Chapel.

Unlike the other times I'd come to Tunghai, with plenty of time on my hands today I took a walk through the campus. I was glad I did so, for there is plenty of greenery, and many of the buildings are Chinese-themed in design:

I haven't visited too many universities in Taiwan, but I'd wager that Tunghai's campus is arguably the island's most attractive. I was a little put off that there is a Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正 Memorial Hall (where are the student activists when you need them?), and it was simultaneously funny and scary to see that the female dorms were surrounded by high brick walls topped with shards of glass and razor wire (one mustn't forget that Tunghai is a Methodist university!), but all in all the school grounds make for a pleasant walk, and a respite from the typical Taiwanese chaos lurking just over the walls.

Leaving Tunghai, I rode up the hill the short distance to Tunghai (aka International) Art Street. This area of boutiques, crafts shops and cafes is hopping on the weekends, but was understandably deserted on a bleak Tuesday afternoon:

Next week, weather permitting, it'll be back to the mountains, something I haven't done since before the Lunar New Year holidays.

Lantern Festival 元宵節

The Kaminoge family went to see the 2010 edition of the Lantern Festival in T'aichung 台中 on Saturday evening. Here's a view of the streets of the big city on our way to the festival site:

Because this is the Year of the Tiger 寅, and tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, the festival organizers decided to draw attention to the great felines' dire situation by having all the displays of lanterns incorporate a tiger theme...not.

No, because this is the Year of the Tiger, the main motif was that traditional tiger character from the legends of Chinese history, Tigger. Amber, however, insisted on having her picture taken in front of Piglet:

For my wife, the primary point of interest wasn't what could dazzle her eyes, but what could fill her stomach. For her, the highlight was the walk through the many food stands, seeing, smelling and tasting what was for sale. 屋台 and people everywhere you turn.

In the news

From today's edition of the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 ("Elpida won't need funds from Taiwan"):

"Elpida Memory Inc. エルピーだメモリー will not receive 20 billion yen ($225 million) as initially planned by a Taiwan firm set up by the island's authorities, Elpida President Yukio Sakamoto 坂本幸雄 told The Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞 on Tuesday. The company, which is under corporate rehabilitation, has showed recent signs of improved business due to rebounding semiconductor demand. Taiwan Innovation Memory Company was set up by the Taiwan authorities last year to reorganize the island's dynamic random access memory market."

The article provides some background information behind the decision:

"The demand for semiconductors used in household appliances and information technology related devices had declined from autumn of 2008 due to the global economic crisis. In June 2009 Elpida became the first company to which the revised Industrial Revitalization Law was applied. It planned to raise 160 billion yen ($1.8 billion), including 30 billion yen ($338 million) in public funds from the Development Bank of Japan 日本政策投資銀行 and 20 billion yen from TIMC. However, Elpida's business has taken a sharp turn for the better on demand spurred by economic stimulus measures as well as increased demand, especially in China and other emerging economies. The company posted operating profit of 30.4 billion yen ($343 million) for the October-December 2009 quarter."

Elpida is a name often seen in the business sections of Taiwan's two main English-language dailies, an example of how important chips are to this island's economy. The TIMC is a controversial attempt by the government to restructure the DRAM industry. Its intention was to consolidate three Taiwanese chip manufacturers (Powerchip, ProMOS and Rexchip Electronics) and utilize technology from Elpida, but with the market appearing to pick up again, the fate of the state-backed venture is up in the air.