New Taiwan envoy upbeat on Japan ties

Of course he is. It isn't often you read of newly-appointed diplomats expressing pessimism over their new postings:

"As Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Japan, John Feng believes that strengthening ties between Tōkyō 東京 and Taipei (T'aipei) 台北 is vital to securing bilateral prosperity. 'Taiwan and Japan have a genuine, people-to-people relationship. We are close strategically, historically and geographically,' Feng...said during an interview with The Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ..."

After getting off to a rocky start vis-a-vis Japan, both the administration of Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Ying-chiu) and KMT 中国国民党 heavyweights like Legislative President Wang Jin-pyng (Wang Chin-p'ing) 王金平 have worked hard in recent months to repair the initial damage. The arrival of Feng in Japan on Sept. 27 to head up the Taipei Economic Cultural Representative Office 台北経済文化代表処 is the latest step in the process. Feng has some personal experience with Japan, having:

"...spent more than five years in Tōkyō with his diplomat father and attended local schools in Minato Ward 港区. During a reception in Tōkyō earlier this month to celebrate Taiwan's national commemoration day, Feng surprised guests by reciting the 1957 starting lineup for the...Yomiuri Giants 読売ジャイアンツ. 'My favorite player was (Tatsuro) Hirooka,' Feng said, favoring the reliable shortstop over superstar slugger Shigeo Nagashima 長嶋茂雄."

It figures a member of a political party with an authoritarian past would've rooted for Japan's version of the "Evil Empire", but I do give him credit for not worshiping at the altar of Nagashima (Sadaharu Oh 王貞治 was a much better player).

Feng replaced Koh Se-kai (Hsu Shih-k'ai) 許世楷, who resigned in June ((though "forced out by nationalist KMT legislators" might be the more accurate description) following the brouhaha that arose (all on the Taiwanese side) over the sinking of a Taiwanese fishing vessel following a collision with a Japanese Coast Guard 海上保安庁 ship in waters around the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島. In the JT interview, Feng:

"...acknowledged that the territorial dispute (over the Senkakus) is a matter of concern. His stance is that the collision is an isolated case and that the two sides should 'shelve the issue and move on.'"

The article notes that:

"The time-consuming appointment to fill the vacuum left by Koh triggered worries that Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was taking ties with Japan too lightly."

The reason it took Ma so long to appoint Feng to the post was probably due to the difficulty in finding qualified Taiwanese representatives who held the proper Chinese nationalist ideological beliefs. Koh's treatment in the wake of the Senkaku crisis might also have dissuaded some from taking up the position. Feng (of course):

"...said there was no political motive behind the delay (in his appointment). He stated that Taiwan's ties with Japan are as important as its ties with the United States, if not more, and that the ruling Kuomintang simply lacked the resources to find an appropriate representative after being the opposition party for eight years."

So now Feng is in Tōkyō, playing golf with nationalist politicians such as Tōkyō Governor Shintarō Ishihara 石原慎太郎 and promoting "youth exchanges", a typically nice-sounding but ultimately meaningless idea, and therefore an ideal program to be pursued by the Ma administration. Perhaps Ishihara can take a few Taiwanese young people with him the next time he visits Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社!

In the news

From today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ, "Renesas mulls tieup with Taiwan firm":

"Renesas Technology Corp. ルネサステクノロジ, Japan's second-largest semiconductor maker, is mulling a tie-up with major maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to mass-produce next-generation chips, sources said. Renesas is considering outsourcing a large part of its production to the Taiwan company to cut its mounting production costs and instead use more of its financial resources on product development, the sources said Wednesday. The tie-up talks come at a time when other chip makers are gearing up to start mass production of next-generation chips to make digital consumer appliances smaller and help cut their electricity consumption. The development of such chips is expected to lead to the creation of highly functional digital appliances...Through the tie-up, Renesas aims to cut costs that are projected to run into tens of billions of yen to develop production technologies and hundreds of billions of yen more to set up large-scale production lines...Major Japanese chip makers generally engage in the full process from product planning and development to production, but some are beginning to outsource production in an effort to cut costs."

Of crises past

Almost everyday in Taiwan is a crisis of sorts for me. But the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ today has an article on a different kind of Taiwanese crisis, and how it was related to Japan. The headline of the article, "'58 Taiwan Strait crisis saw nukes in Okinawa", says it all:

"Two types of nuclear bombs were deployed at Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 in Okinawa 沖縄 around the time the United States was considering nuclear strikes on China during the Taiwan Strait crisis 金門砲戦 in 1958, a declassified U.S. document showed Tuesday. Previously released documents have shown the U.S. military was considering a plan to carry out nuclear strikes against mainland China from then U.S.-occupied Okinawa during the crisis, in which Chinese and Taiwanese forces clashed in the strait."

You can read about the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis here. The article goes on to say that:

"...the U.S. had a plan to drop nuclear bombs on Chinese airfields in Amoy, now Xiamen 廈門, in the event the Chinese blockaded the islands.　According to a separate, declassified U.S. Air Force document...the U.S. had a plan to launch initial atomic strikes against China from Clark Air Base in the Philippines and Kadena, with the option of more strikes from these bases if necessary."

For those of you who might otherwise be unaware, the Republic of China 中華民国 government on Taiwan controls two groups of islands just offshore from the Chinese mainland, Kinmen (Chinmen) 金門 and Matsu 馬祖. I've never had an overwhelming urge to visit these places, as I've always considered them to be more a part of China, and not Taiwan. Sinophiliacs such as my Aussie coworker Ivan might have trouble wrapping their minds around this, but I've never had much of an interest in visiting the mainland (I did spend a great week in Hong Kong 香港 back in 1993, but at that time it was still a British colony, and the combination of British and Chinese influences was part of the attraction for me). Technically speaking, if you follow the One China line of thinking, Kinmen and Matsu are not part of the province of Taiwan, but fall under the administration of Fujian Province 福建省. In the unlikely event the Chinese government should ever acquiesce to the establishment of an independent Republic of Taiwan 台湾共和国, I would think these islands would have to be returned to China's control. Seeing as the residents of Kinmen and Matsu vote overwhelmingly for the KMT 中国国民党 in every election, I doubt such a reversion would become an impediment.

But I digress, for the Japan Times article got me to do some additional perusing of the latest edition of Lonely Planet's Taiwan guide. And from what I've read so far, it sounds like these islands could make for an interesting trip. Matsu, in particular, seems to have great beaches, interesting sites related to military history and the chance to stay overnight in a 200 year-old Fujian-style stone house. It seems I may have to rethink what constitutes "Taiwan".

As for that dedicated Sinologist Ivan, his love of things Chinese apparently extends to sturgeon fishing and caviar production in Heilongjiang Province 黒龍江省, judging from a conversation I had with him the other day. The more I listen to him, the more I'm convinced Sinophilia is much like alcoholism: most of us can enjoy what Chinese culture has to offer without letting it dominate our lives/thinking (not to mention clouding our judgment/moral compasses), but for an unfortunate few...

Cape No. 7

 

Getting up close and personal with a whip scorpion in Dakeng (Tak'eng)

The Taiwanese movie "Cape No. 7" has been a runaway success in this country, and the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ has taken note of the phenomenon ("Taiwan love story conjures colonial nostalgia"):

"A Taiwanese movie depicting a love story between a Japanese woman and a Taiwanese man has become a huge blockbuster on the island, setting box-office records since its release at the end of August. 'Cape No. 7,' which cost just 50 million Taiwanese dollars (￥155 million/$1.5 million) to make, but has so far generated NT400 million, or about ¥1.2 billion ($12.2 million). The actors and actresses featured in the movie have all become stars in Taiwan, and spin off goods are selling well."

Many of my students have seen the film (though in true Taiwanese fashion, some of them didn't pay for the privilege, if you get my meaning), and the overall consensus is positive. The JT summarizes the plot of "Cape No. 7":

"The story centers on seven love letters written by a male Japanese teacher who left Taiwan after World War II and the end of Japan's colonial rule of Taiwan. The letters were written to a Taiwanese woman living in a town on the coast of southern Taiwan. Sixty years later, a group of Taiwanese boys and a Japanese girl discover the letters and try to deliver them to the woman addressed in the letters."

One interesting thing about "Cape No. 7" is that the dialog isn't in Mandarin 中国官話 as might be expected. Instead, Japanese and Taiwanese 台湾語 are the dominant languages in the movie. As the Japan Times explains:

"Chinese Mandarin was introduced to Taiwan by Chinese mainlanders who emigrated to the island together with the Kuomintang 中国国民党 government in the late 1940s. Critics lay the movie's popularity to nostalgia for the period of Japanese colonial rule and frustration over the Nationalist Party government..."

Hmm...a touching love story with a subtle anti-Chinese nationalism undercurrent (though the director denies any political motivations)? "Cape No. 7" might be worth seeing. 

UPDATE: Michael Turton passed along this interpretation of the movie from his friend Michael:

"It's Taiwanese love for Japanese pop culture cleverly packaged by the director to get people to think about the colonial period, a period which is a complete blank for young people."

All that Jazz

今週末台中でジャズフェスティバルを開いて、日曜日の昼に家族といっしょに行って見た。

Before going to Taichung 台中, we stopped by a small "river" near Jhong-jheng Park, to say hello to Amber's uncle, who was doing some fishing. My brother-in-law is one of the most nicest people I have ever met.

 

義兄はとても慎み深い人だ

The festival was held in the park meridian that runs between Taizhonggang and Gongyi Roads, not far from the National Museum of Natural Science 国立自然科学博物館. The number of food stalls and other vendors there made it seem more like a market than a music festival, but then what would Taiwan be if there weren't people out there trying to sell you things? Amber had a try at an electronic drum kit:

 

アンバーはドラムを演奏している！

We stopped for a break at a nearby Mister Donut, where Amber had her first, and presumably (for a while, at least), last sip of coffee (with cream and sugar):

 

娘はコーヒーを楽しんでいる！

We actually didn't hear all that much in the way of music. I did, however, record one jazz quartet for about 90 seconds:

Jazz Group

The somewhat shaky camerawork comes from trying to film with one hand, while carrying my daughter in my other arm.

As night fell (and Amber started getting tired), we headed back to Fengyuan 豊原, stopping off at a roadside teppanyaki 鉄板焼き stand to pick up some food to take home for dinner.

For myself, Taichung's Jazz Festival ended up being a celebration of Taiwan's budding craft beer industry. I've long complained about the generally poor quality of the government-monopoly produced Taiwan Beer (if you like Budweiser, you'll love Taiwan Beer!), and the lack of selection of beers in general to be found in convenience stores and supermarkets. The retail situation is still pretty bleak, but microbreweries are starting to appear on the scene, and not a moment too soon!

 

地ビール

The large bottle in the middle is brewed by a company called Le ble d'or, while the two on either side are from North Taiwan Brewing. Both breweries are based in the Taipei 台北 area, though Le ble d'or also has a couple of restaurants in Taichung. I've already polished off the bottle on the right (the Abbey Beer) while I've been writing this (and it was delicious!), and I'm looking forward to the other two. In fact, combined with the sake-in-a-can and sake-in-a-carton (straw included!) that I was given by a student on Friday (her mother-in-law had just returned from a trip to Japan), I think I'm going to be feeling pretty good for most of this upcoming week!

I can't think of a title

Though it appeared in the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ on Tuesday of last week, "New Japanese makes inroads into Chinese vocabulary" is a pretty interesting article, and one which will no doubt annoy the hell out of your (un)friendly neighborhood Chinese nationalist. The story describes "Wasei kango" 和製漢語, literally "Japan-made Chinese words", which were coined in Japan, starting from the Meiji Period 明治時代 (1868-1912) and continuing up to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War 日中戦争 in 1937. "Wasei kango" served to translate knowledge from Western countries into Chinese characters 漢字 as Japan was modernizing after 250 years of relative isolation, and these in turn were adopted by the Chinese and became part of their language. The article gives a sample list of such words (I've added the Mandarin pronunciations):

直接 chokusetsu (direct; zhijie)

注射 chūsha (injection; zhushe)

出口 deguchi (exit; chukou)

伝染病 densenbyō (contagious disease; chuanranbing, with 傳 used in Taiwan in place of 伝)

電子 denshi (electron; dianzi)

動脈 dōmyaku (artery; dongmai)

原子 denshi (atom; yuanzi)

百貨店 yakkaten (department store; baihuodian)

入口 iriguchi (entrance; rukou)

時間 jikan (time; shijian)

決算 kessan (closing of accounts; juesuan)

企業 kigyō (business; qiye)

小型 kogata (compact; xiaoxing)

工業 kōgyō (industry; gongye)

広告 kōkoku (advertisement; guanggao. In Taiwan it's 廣告)

国際 kokusai (international; guoji 國際)

空間 kǖkan (space; kongjian)

民族 minzoku (people; minzu)

農民 nōmin (farmer; nongmin)

大型 ōgata (large scale; daxing)

歴史 rekishi (history; lishi)

劣勢 ressei (inferiority; lieshi)

政党 seitō (political party; zhendang)

社会 shakai (society; shehui, with Taiwanese writing 會 for 会)

市場 shijō (market; shichang)

自然科学 shizen kagaku (natural science; ziran kexue 學 in place of 学)

所得税 shotokuzei (income tax; suodeshui)

出版 shuppan (publishing; chuban)

主体 shutai (main subject; zhuti 體 replacing 体)

相対 sōtai (relative; xiangdui 相對)

体育 taiiku (physical education; tiyu 體育)

体操 taisō (calisthenics; ticao 體操)

投資 tōshi (investment; touzi)

優勢 yǖsei (superiority; youshi)

絶対 zettai (absolute; juedui 絶對)

In the early centuries of Japanese history, China (via Korea) was the source of numerous concepts and vocabulary for Japan. Now the flow has been reversed, and the story concludes by pointing out that the Japanese language today still has a big influence on Chinese.

 The China Post had an "editorial" yesterday on the relationship between Yonaguni Island 与那国島 in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県 and Taiwan's Hualien (Karen) 花連: "Japan isle looks to Taiwan". The reason for the quotation marks around the word "editorial" is that the piece is anything but. It seems the editors at the China Post took a few facts about Yonaguni from its Wikipedia entry, and then "borrowed" very liberally from the same Kyōdō News 共同通信社 story that appeared in the Japan Times a week ago ("Yonaguni looks to Taiwan to survive"). While Kyōdō News was credited in the second paragraph of the Post's article, if I were a college professor and this a term paper handed in by one of my students, I would be raising some questions about plagiarism. But my biggest question is why this appeared as an editorial. The opinions of the editors on Yonaguni and Hualien are not stated anywhere. If this were truly an editorial, shouldn't there be some words about encouraging the two places to grow closer together, thus further improving the overall Japan-Taiwan relationship? Or, seeing as the China Post is generally anti-Japanese in tone, couldn't the editors have passed along a warning about the "threat from the rise of Japanese nationalism"? Even a completely reactionary assertion (not beyond the realm of possibility for the Post!) that Okinawa is still a tribute state of China, and that therefore Taiwan has a claim over Yonaguni, would at least constitute an opinion, which is what an editorial is supposed to do. This story belongs in either the Asia-Pacific or Taiwan sections of the newspaper, and not on the Op/Ed page. Is the China Post too cheap to actually pay Kyōdō News for the article? I guess you could call it "night market journalism".

Double Ten

We're halfway through the three-day weekend courtesy of the Double Ten national holiday 中華民国国慶日, and I'm already exhausted, but feeling good nonetheless. Yesterday morning (Friday), the Kaminoge family set off in their motorcar, and moved in a southerly direction. Our plan was to visit Chiayi 嘉義, spend the night there, and then drive to the Guanziling Hot Springs 関子嶺温泉 on Saturday morning. Things didn't turn out quite as planned, but the result in the end was better than anticipated. For the sweet twist of fate, read on...

嘉義は木村、製糖業などが盛んな産業都市。阿里山森林鉄道の出発点として有名である。

ここは平埔族系原住民が住んでいた土地で、古くは｢山の連なる｣という意味の諸羅山という地名であった。オランダ統治時代の文献にすでにこの地名が登場しているという。1787～88年に起きた清代最大の反礼、林爽文の礼の際、諸羅の民は町を守り抜き、反礼者たちに町への侵入を緩さなかった。礼の平定後、乾隆帝は地名を「その民の忠義(義)を賞賛(嘉）する」という意味に改称した。

市街地は碁盤の目状でかわりやすい。メインストリートの中山路の両側にデパートや商店、銀行などが並ぶ。国華街は食堂や商店が並ぶ通りだ。

嘉義の南東28ｋｍに位置する関子嶺温泉は、バラエティ富むんだ台湾の温泉のなかでも、日本統治時代から有名だった温泉郷。泉質は世界的にも数少な鉱泥濁泉で、温度は54～84℃。岩石層の泥質と鉱物質が含まれているため灰色をしており、黒色温泉、泥温泉と呼ばれる。神経痛、胃腸病に効くほか、天然の泥パック効果で美容にもよく、「美人の湯｣としても名高い。泥の顔に塗りながら体を温めている人も見かける。温泉の粉もみやげ物として売られている。

狭い谷間に宿泊施設が建ち並んでおり、その温泉街から曲がりくねった車道を20～30分ほど上ると、リゾート地といった趣の新しいホテル群がある。この近くには、同じ穴から水蒸気と湯が同時に噴き出している水火同源、観音像の碧雲寺、釈迦像の大仙岩寺などがある。

（地球の歩き方台湾から）

We didn't leave home until after 11:30 am, but that was no problem, as the idea was to spend the afternoon strolling around Chiayi Park 嘉義公園, before locating a hotel in the downtown area to spend the night, whereupon after checking in and parking the car, we would go to a night market and soak up some local atmosphere. Southbound-traffic on the No. 1 Freeway was heavier than expected, which Pamela put down to being the result of a festival of some sort being held at Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 . However, I learned from talking on the phone to my friend Steve that a big national day fireworks show was scheduled to be held in Chiayi on Friday evening, right in the very park we were planning to visit. After a quick visit to my wife's hometown of Siluo 西螺 in Yunlin County 雲林県 (where we had lunch at a noodle restaurant that Pamela used to frequent back in her elementary and junior high school days, so you know it's been around for a while!), we got to Chiayi around 2:30, where the Statue of Liberty welcomed the huddled masses yearning to breathe free in the middle of a traffic circle:

Heading towards Chiayi Park, we saw that the police were already instituting crowd-control measures on the roads, so we figured the best thing to do would be to find accommodation ASAP, and go to the park on foot. Well, every hotel we either telephoned or stopped at was fully booked, and the love hotels were not accepting overnight visitors until after 10pm. After about 90 minutes of driving around downtown Chiayi in search of a place to stay (and with me wondering what the hell was I thinking when I decided earlier in the week that it wouldn't be necessary to book ahead!), we gave up on the city. A quick phone call to a hotel in Guanziling secured a room for us for the evening, and so we drove into the hills of northern Tainan County 台南県, arriving at the Jing Leh Hotel around 5:30. According to "The Rough Guide to Taiwan", the Jing Leh:

"...is the oldest hotel in town, established in 1902 with Japanese-style rooms and white-tiled bathrooms..."

Wooden floors and futons constitute "Japanese-style" in Taiwan, but the hotel didn't look much like it was 106 years old. In fact, the neighboring Hotel Kuanzuling (in English)/Kanshirei Onsen Hotel 関子嶺温泉ホテル (in Japanese) looked much older, and more Japanese.

 

However, the hotel was a reasonably-priced NT2200 ($68 or ￥6800) for a large room with bath/toilet en suite, and a Western-style breakfast in the morning, plus friendly staff. After dropping our bags off at the hotel we drove 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) up the hill, along a road made treacherous in parts due to recent typhoon damage, to the Water Fire Cave - a natural spring pool that has escaping natural gas igniting above it. We got there just after the sun had set, which had the added bonus of making the flames look even more spectacular. After returning back to the lower part of Guanziling village (where the Jing Leh Hotel is located) and having dinner, the three of us went into a communal (but private) bath at our hotel to enjoy the hot springs. To quote Rough Trade again, the spring water at Guanziling:

"is a rare type found in only two other places (Japan and Sicily). It contains alkali and iodine, has a light sulfuric smell and a grayish 'muddy' color."

What the book doesn't mention is that the water also produces actual mud, heaps of it, which Amber, in particular, enjoyed flinging at us and rubbing on herself:

Definitely the most interesting hot spring experience I've had so far!

The next morning (today), we got up at 6 and took a walk up some stairs that overlooked the lower village:

Following our stroll and breakfast, we checked out, then drove off to visit the Bi Yun Temple, a further 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) past the Water Fire Cave. Consisting of a Taoist temple at the bottom and a Buddhist one at the top, the complex (again to quote RT):

"occupies a stunning location beneath a craggy peak with great views of the plains below."

Which is all true, but on this morning the weather was hazy, which limited the view. In addition, soon after we got there, a festival began that involved lots of firecrackers being set off, which only served to terrify Amber, and made her want to leave. It was a good thing we did, though, because as we were pulling out of the parking lot, busloads of "pilgrims" (for want of a better description) began showing up, and the narrow mountain road was quickly beginning to back up with traffic. Fortunately for us, we were heading in the opposite direction, back towards Chiayi.

Driving into Chiayi on Highway 1, our next stop was the Tropic of Cancer Monument 北回帰線標塔. There's a museum nearby that reminds of Los Angeles International Airport. The actual line marking the northern boundary of the tropics crosses the highway. Meanwhile, replicas of previous monuments (the earliest one having been erected in 1908) can be seen in front of the museum. Afterward, we returned to a still-busy central Chiayi, but now a city in which all roads were free of restrictions. And in a case of "When in Rome", we naturally had turkey rice for lunch.

市の南西3.3kmの下寮村内、北緯23度27分4秒51、東経120度24分46秒5の位置にある北回帰線の標塔。この線より南は緯度上の熱帯、北は亜熱帯である。初代の北回帰線標塔は1908年に建てられた。その後は台風や震災で破壊されるなどして、今道路沿いにあるのは5代目。周りの公園も整備された。

(地球の歩き方台湾から)

And so, roughly 24 hours later than originally intended, we arrived at Chiayi Park. A fair question might be "What's so special about the park?". For Amber, it was a chance to play on some slides and blow some bubbles, but for myself, it was an opportunity to visit the site of the old Kagi Shrine 嘉義神社, one of the 66 official Shintō shrines 神社 established during the Japanese colonial era. The Koma-inu 狛犬 guardian lion statues and stone lanterns still line the approach, and though the torii 鳥居 is gone, the shrine's beautiful old cypress office buildings have been preserved as the Chiayi Historical Relics Museum. Funny how in Matsue 松江, the local history museum was housed in a Meiji-era Western-style building, while here, displays on Chiayi's early history are presented in a very Japanese-looking structure. Free of charge, the buildings are interesting to walk through. It's great to see the old architectural examples being put to good use instead of being torn down and replaced by some KMT-designed monstrosity.

1911(明治44)年に開園式が挙行されたという広大な公園。正門から入って左の道を真っすぐ行くと、昔使用されていた阿里山森林鉄道の蒸気機関車が展示してある。日本統治時代に嘉義神社だった忠烈祠には今も当時の狛犬や手水舎、灯篭が残っており、木造建築の社務所は嘉義史蹟資料館になっている。忠烈祠の参道奥には「射日塔」という11階建てのビルがあり、11階の展望台から市内を見渡すことができる。

(地球の歩き方台湾から)

(The last picture, by the way, was taken by a photographer who is isn't quite 2 years and 9 months old!)

Where the main hall of Kagi-jinja once stood, there now stands the Chiayi Tower. There would've been good views of the city from the top, had the sky not been full of haze, but it was possible to look down through a glassed section of floor at the interior of the tower, all the way down to the bottom:

By the time we left the tower, it was after 4, so we got back in the car and headed home to Fengyuan豊原. There is still one more day left in this holiday weekend, but we figured the freeways will be jammed tomorrow (Sunday) with people returning home. Besides, the apartment needs a good cleaning, so that's what I'm going to be doing on Sunday. It was enough that we were able to get away for as long as we could, and to where we could go. In fact, things worked out even better by us staying in Guanziling. After all, we were able to enjoy a hot springs experience at a leisurely pace, and still get to enjoy Chiayi Park, and with the added bonus of avoiding the crowds that would have been there on Saturday evening.