Life in Taiwan can be a beach at times

Summer's here, and the time is right, for having fun at the beach. Unfortunately, for those of us living on the west coast of Taiwan, decent (as in clean/unpolluted) beaches are in short supply. A quick look through my guidebooks, however, suggested heading north for some fun in the sun, specifically to Fulung Beach 福隆海水浴場, on Taiwan's beautiful northeast coast. Which is what we did, and, I'm pleased to say, the books didn't disappoint.

Leaving our home in Fengyuan 豐原 just after 10 on Saturday morning, we endured a couple of traffic jams, a car window that refused to close (how I long for the days of the hand-crank) and a long search for a restaurant to have lunch before finally reaching our minsu 民宿 around 2:30. Despite the snags, we were blessed with beautiful weather and equally beautiful scenery along the coastal Highway 2. On the way, we passed the old copper smelter at Chinkuashih 金瓜石:

"Minsu" is usually translated as a "homestay" in English, and mainly refers to a private home that lets its rooms out to visitors. Ours wasn't much to look at from the outside (the usual ugly concrete block house one sees all over Taiwan), but the room was comfortable, reasonably-priced at NT1800 ($56/¥4800) for the night, and best of all, only 200 meters (660 feet) to the fee-charging public beach and less than that to the free section of sand. Here's Amber waiting downstairs for her mother to get changed:

Seeing signs saying the free section was reserved for "skin divers", we opted for the pay area. The NT90 ($2.80/¥240) fee for adults (only NT10, or 30¢/¥30 for Amber) allowed us entry into a beach that was very clean. The water quality also appeared to be good, and the waves were relatively high (with a few cresting over my 190cm/6'3" head), making it a lot of fun to be in the water, which is where I stayed for a couple of hours. Despite being only about 90 minutes by train from T'aipei 台北, and with Fulung Station 福隆車站 just a short walk away, the beach wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. The beaches in the Shōnan 湘南 region, near Tōkyō 東京, for example, would be blanket-to-blanket on a sunny weekend day, with the sand and water difficult to see. While busy, there was still plenty of elbow room at Fulung. Perhaps it was because of Ghost Month 中元節與盂蘭盆節, and the traditional proscription against swimming during this time (for fear of being pulled under by ghosts)?

Here I am in full father mode (i.e. carrying all the stuff):

The sand and water scenes. My only complaint was that the roped-off swimming area could have been larger, but this seems to be standard practice at Taiwanese beaches:

The view toward the free area. The temple pictured below was about 300 meters (980 feet) from our homestay, which is just out of the photo to the right:

Amber went out into the water a few times, but didn't care much for the stinging salty spray getting into her eyes (next time we hit the beach, we'll get her some goggles). She had a great time, however, building her sand "castle", which looked more like a grave to me. Another influence of Ghost Month?:

Around 5:30 we headed back to our room, where we cleaned ourselves up, then went back out into town. Fulung doesn't have much of a beach town vibe to it - rather, it seems more like a typical Taiwanese tourist town that happens to be close to the ocean. It was a little difficult finding a place that served proper meals, as most of the eating establishments sold lunchboxes (dinner boxes?) filled with things like pork or chicken leg, but we did end up enjoying some decent grub (including the below-pictured lobster rolls) at a restaurant along Highway 2:

After dinner, Pamela and Amber retired to our minsu, while I took a walk over to the Tunghsin Temple 東興宮, the one in the photo above. Here's a short video of the night view - the colorful bridge is the pay area for Fulung Beach:

The following morning, while Amber and Pamela were still in bed, I took a walk along the free section of beach. It was a good thing we didn't go there the day before, as the condition of the sand wasn't nearly as good. Still, it was fun wading in the water, and had it been a little earlier, I would've gone for a swim:

For breakfast, we had tanping (a popular Taiwanese breakfast item made using spring onion crepe and beaten eggs) 蛋餅 at a small shop near the train station, washing it down with some hot coffee...served in a paper cup with a straw:

 

By the time we finished breakfast, the glorious sunshine of yesterday and this morning had been replaced by ominous dark clouds, and the first rain drops began to fall. The intermittent rainfall would continue for most of the remainder of the day, but it didn't bother us as we took a leisurely drive back on Highway 2, stopping at a few places to enjoy the view.

Huoyanshan 火炎山. The pools in the background are used for raising abalone:

Chinsha Bay 金沙灣:

Lungtung Bay Park 龍洞灣公園 (or Lungtung Four Season Bay 龍洞四季灣, according to the sign), where there were enclosed, sea-fed pools for swimming and snorkeling. It looked like fun, and Amber certainly wanted to get in, but the rain was pretty steady at this point:

 

The last stop was Nanya 南雅, where there were some interesting rock formations. Shaped by wind and waves for a number of years that would leave a Creationist in denial, these geologic oddities can be found at several spots along Taiwan's northeast coast (that's Turtle Island  龜山島 in the background behind Amber and me):

By then it was around noon, and time to go home. Traveling south while the rest of Taiwan was heading back to Taipei meant that even with a long lunch break in Chungli 中壢, we were still home by 3:30. I would've loved to have more time to spend in the water, plus everywhere we drove there were signs indicating one hiking/walking trail after another. And all just a short drive or train ride from Taipei. How do you say "relocation" in Chinese? Hmm...

China Post editorial makes no sense

In order to write an editorial for the China Post, a formula needs to be applied each time it's deemed necessary to comment on something related to Japan. To start things off, a head-scratching headline is required, something along the line of "Japan-US war scenario makes no sense" . Of course, there must be irrelevant references to the Second World War:

"...Japan's self-defense forces, which have inherited the venerable historic tradition of its once invincible Imperial Army 大日本帝国陸軍 and Navy 大日本帝国海軍, are planning to stage a joint air-sea maneuver with the United States based on a highly unlikely war scenario. The two countries that fought the bloody Pacific War are reported to have their joint naval exercise take place over waters near the Tiaoyut'ai Islands 釣魚台群島 in December..."

Later on, it is mentioned that:

"The Imperial Japanese Army sent an infantry regiment to occupy uninhabited Attu in the Aleutian Islands immediately after Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku's 山本五十六 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941."

No further reference is made on this subject, but suffice it to say it's enough to hang the war albatross around the Japanese neck, even if it is 2010 and not 1945, and the USA and Japan are staunch allies. Actually, the Japanese attacked the Aleutians six months after Pearl Harbor, but why quibble over unimportant matters like historical accuracy?

Next, you must ridicule your subject using tortuous logic:

"The scenario (of practicing to retake one of the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 from a foreign invader) is naive, if not inane. Japan seems to believe Senkaku or Tiaoyutai...is likely to be occupied by either the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or Taiwan's marine corps. Is it possible for the People's Republic to mount an amphibious assault, on what our fishermen used to call 'No Man's Island,' without T'aipei's 台北 acquiescence? Taiwan's defense forces certainly cannot match the PLA in all-out hostilities, but is more than strong enough to hold their ground in denying safe-passage for easy access to Diaoyutai. Does Taiwan have any wish to occupy Tiaoyutai, which means Fishing Platform? Of course, not. As a matter of fact, the tiny islet isn't worth occupying. In other words, there is no ground whatsoever for fear that Senkaku may be invaded and occupied."

Let's see...in the previous paragraph, the editorial states that:

"(the Senkaku archipelago), which lies only 120 miles northeast of Chilung 基隆 in the Western Pacific, is claimed not merely by Taiwan but by the People's Republic of China as well. It is important as a rich fishing ground, while geological surveys show there are huge petroleum reserves under its waters."

Rich fishing grounds? The possibility of huge petroleum reserves? The Post is right - what possible reason could any country have for wanting to seize the Senkakus, especially when two other states in particular lay claim to the Japanese-held islands? This group of rocks is obviously not worth the trouble of sending flotillas of Hong Kong Chinese protesters to assert sovereignty over it, let alone having some of them drown in the sea in the process (goodbye David Chan, we hardly knew ye).

Now it's time to show some ethnic pride. Behold the mighty dragon:

"Even if Senkaku were occupied, could a small 250-strong contingent drive out the invaders from China? Don't make us laugh...An airdropped company-size fighting group would be too lightly armed to fight off a much larger occupying force. Then, what would Japan want to do with Senkaku if its next-to-impossible recapture of the isle were successful? Station a larger garrison on a barren, habitable islet? It would be easily retaken by the PLA, if it so wished."

The last part of the formula is the most important - the writers must unintentionally provide the very rationale that justifies what they so casually dismiss in the first place:

"We fully understand the PLA is flexing its muscle in the East China Sea 東中國海 and planning to extend its influence past the Okinawa 沖縄 island chain into the Pacific. It's only natural for Japan to be concerned."

If it's only natural for the Japanese are be worried about the growing power of the Chinese military, especially its navy, in the waters surrounding Japan (including its territorial waters), then wouldn't it make sense for the Japanese security establishment to prepare for all possible scenarios? Apparently not if you write for the China Post. It helps not to have any grasp of reality:

"But that does not mean the Japanese have to ask Uncle Sam to take part in a joint maneuver against their potential enemy. How does the Pentagon want the Americans to participate in the joint exercise? The United States keeps a Marine division at an air station on Okinawa. Its Pacific fleet may send an aircraft carrier combat group. The United States may choose to show its flag around to alleviate Japan's newly acquired Sinophobia."

A brief history lesson is in order here. Japan occupied the Senkaku Islands in January 1895, four months before it took over Taiwan. The following year, administration over the islands was formally transferred to Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県. In 1945, with Japan's defeat in World War Two, the Senkakus were handed over to the United States along with the rest of Okinawa. In 1972, when the Ryūkyūs 琉球諸島 were reunited with the rest of Japan, the Senkakus were part of the package, and have been under Japanese control ever since.

While all this was going on, neither Taiwan nor China made any claims to the islands. Not until a Japanese geological survey in the late 1960's suggested there might be oil reserves under the seabed there, that is. Suddenly, the Senkakus (or Diaoyutai/Tiaoyut'ai Islands) became an inviolate part of Chinese (or Taiwanese) territory, under the rubric of "Once a part of China (or Taiwan), always a part of China (or Taiwan)".

And why is Uncle Sam getting involved in this? Not to alleviate any Sinophobia, but to carry out the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty 日本国とアメリカ合衆国との間の相互協力及び安全保障条約, an obscure document dating from 1960 that obligates the United States to come to the defense of Japan in the event of an attack on territory under Japanese administration. Guess what, China Post? That includes the Senkaku Islands!

As usual, there is no mention made of China's ever-increasing military buildup and defense spending, of the aggressive actions of the Chinese navy in recent months in the waters around Japan, or of the concerns about Chinese intentions expressed by the U.S. government. No, it's all just "Sinophobia":

"The end result of the reportedly oncoming joint exercise will be to increase tensions between Japan and the People's Republic Of China. That's the worst scenario none of the countries involved hope to unfold."

In the world of the China Post, where the Republic of China 中華民國 still waits for the day it can resume control over the greater Chinese nation, where the heroic Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正 single-handedly defeated the forces of the Empire of Japan 大日本帝国, it's just plain incomprehensible how a country like Japan would even consider measures to defend its so-called "territory" from the benign Chinese.

See, anyone can write like the editors of the China Post.

Beautiful downtown Burbank...er, I mean Fengyuan

Amber and I had a fun afternoon today exploring downtown Fengyuan  豐原, and the Pacific Department Store there. Our ostensible purpose was to purchase a birthday gift for Pamela, who turns...some number next Friday (mission accomplished). But we also took time to have lunch, romp in the デパート's fifth floor kiddie play area and generally cover a big chunk of the city center on foot (which didn't take long - Fengyuan isn't that large). Not a bad way to kill time before her late afternoon swimming class in T'aichung 台中. Next time, though, I think we'll hit some walking trails in the hills.

Amber making a total mess of herself with a chocolate cookie (and enjoying every moment of it); and goofing off inside the local bus station (we drove into downtown, but needed a restroom break)

Now that I recall....

It hasn't been a good year for Japanese auto manufacturers, with their reputations for quality taking a battering from having to issue a number of recalls. The latest to suffer is Mazda マツダ, as the headline for this Kyōdō News article from Japan Today makes evident - Mazda recall expands to Canada, Taiwan:

"Mazda Motor Corp is recalling about 104,000 cars in Canada and Taiwan over possible problems with the power steering system, in addition to its recalls already filed in the United States and China, company officials said Thursday. The total number of the Mazda3 and Mazda5 vehicles to be recalled comes to about 329,000 around the world, the officials said. Subject to the recall are model years 2007-2009 of the Japanese automaker’s mainstay export cars."

We drive a Nissan Cefiro 日産・セフィーロ. Though Nissan in March recalled more than half a million cars in several regions of the world in order to fix brake pedals and gas gauges, our vehicle hasn't been affected...yet...and cue the sound of wood being knocked on.

In the news

A colonial-era wooden building in downtown Fengyuan 豐原 that has managed to survive to the present day. Someone has got to do something about that paint job, though.

Looking through the headlines on the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ website this morning, I became very interested in one that read "Pre-'45 posts accounts top ¥4 billion; 19 million from war zones yet to claim savings" (Kyōdō News 共同通信社 ), and clicked on it to have a further look:

"Japan Post Bank Co. ゆうちょ銀行 is holding about ¥4.3 billion ($50.4 million/NT1.6 billion), including accrued interest, in nearly 19 million unclaimed savings accounts that were established in Japanese-administered territories up until 1945...The statute of limitations has been suspended on the accounts because of the difficulty in tracking down the holders, who range from Japanese civilians and military personnel to locals living in former Japanese-occupied territories, including Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and areas involved in wartime hostilities...The government has been urged to work more aggressively to publicize the issue of unclaimed savings so the holders, their heirs or next of kin or agents can claim them. The government had encouraged people not only in Japan but also in areas under its colonial rule and wartime occupation to deposit their money in postal savings as part of its efforts to secure money for the war effort."

Taiwan! Just I was thinking of the possibility that my mother-in-law might have a fortune hidden away in a long-forgotten bank account, the last paragraph of the article splashed the cold water of reality on my face:

"As for Taiwanese, Japan took special measures between 1995 and 2000 to reimburse them for postal savings and other determinate obligations at 120 times the value of their actual amounts as part of reparations."

Easy come, easy go. And hey, Dan Bloom, it seems the Japanese government has done some paying up for its sins of the past, after all.

The Japan Times also had the same Kyōdō News story on the conviction of former Brother Elephants manager Shin Nakagomi 中込伸 that appeared on the Japan Today website yesterday. "Game-fixing coach walks in Taipei 台北"had a couple more details that didn't get into the Japan Today article:

"Prosecutors, who sought an 18-month prison term, have yet to say if they will appeal (Nakagomi's suspended 20-month prison term), thus requiring Nakagomi to stay in Taiwan until further notice...(The court) said Nakagomi's contrition for his behavior and the fact that this was his first offense meant a suspended sentence was sufficient as a punishment and deterrent."

No mention was made of how much money Nakagomi has in his Taiwanese bank account.

I'm sorry, so sorry...

Dan Bloom has an interesting commentary in today's Taipei Times. In "Taiwan still waiting for an apology from Japan", Bloom notes that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan 管直人 recently apologized to South Korea for Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula in 1910, and does a little math:

"Substitute 'Taiwan' for 'Korea' in the news reports, and the picture becomes clear. Japan also owes an apology to Taiwan for drafting young Taiwanese men to fight as front-line soldiers for Japanese military campaigns and for forcing thousands of Taiwanese women, many of them Aboriginal girls, to serve as 'comfort women' 慰安婦 in Japanese military brothels. Just as many older Koreans still remember atrocities committed by Japan, many older Taiwanese also remember. Although the issues do not remain as sensitive here in Taiwan all these decades later, the mental and psychological toll of the Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan cannot merely be airbrushed away by Japanese spin doctors."

On the surface, Bloom's demand seems reasonable, but as is often the case in matters like these, what lies beneath is much more complex than might appear from the top. The most obvious difference lies in the circumstances behind the colonizations of Korea and Taiwan. The Japanese, through a series of machinations that included assassinations, maneuvered to replace nationalist leaders with more amenable Koreans, and orchestrated the treaty that resulted in the annexation of a sovereign kingdom by Japan. Taiwan, on the other hand, was a province of China ceded by its government to Japan in 1895 as a result of the Chinese defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War 日清戦争. If Taiwanese are owed an apology for their annexation, as Bloom attests, it should come from the regime that found the island expendable, the Qing Dynasty in this case. In international practice, newer governments are often expected to shoulder the blame for and/or responsibilities of the regimes they replaced, which in Taiwan's case would be the Kuomintang 中國國民黨. The odds of an apology coming from the KMT over this issue aren't too difficult to figure out.

Then there are the questions regarding soldiers and comfort women. Many Taiwanese, being Japanese nationals up until 1945, were drafted into the Imperial Japanese forces from 1943 to the end of the war. Prior to that, however, a number of Taiwanese willingly served in the Japanese military, the most noted being the Takasago Volunteers 高砂義勇隊. The comfort women issue, on the other hand, does seem more clear-cut, and there is a lot more that the Japanese government can, and should, do to address the concerns of those survivors who suffered under the program. Here again, however, it should be pointed out that official apologies have been issued, the most specific being the Kōno statement of August 1993. In it, the government:

"...sincerely apologize[d] and [expressed its] remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable psychological wounds"

and expressed its:

"firm determination never to repeat the same mistake and that they would engrave such issue through the study and teaching of history".

Compensation has also been offered, in the form of the Asia Women's Fund, though many of the victims have criticized the private and unofficial nature of the payments, and have refused to accept any money. As for school textbooks, the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC has pointed out that:

" 1) Among all high school textbooks, 16 out of 18 among them refer to the issue. 2) All of the 18 high school textbooks describe the suffering that the people in neighboring countries had to bear before and during World War II and Japan ’s responsibility in these matters."

(http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/cw1.htm)

Does the Japanese government owe anything to Taiwan? The Sino-Japanese Treaty of 1952 日本国と中華民国との間の平和条約 officially ended the war between Japan and the Republic of China 中華民國, and waived the right of Chinese (and therefore Taiwanese) nationals to demand compensation. The Murayama statement of August 1995 apologized for the:

"tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations"

which would seem to include Taiwan. The lack of formal diplomatic relations between Japan and Taiwan would certainly appear to be a barrier to the issuance of a Taiwan-specific apology (and would no doubt generate strong protests from China), but the biggest question mark is Taiwanese society itself. Unlike in Korea, there is no consensus on Bloom's description of a "mental and psychological toll". For every one of those who, like my mother-in-law, have less than pleasant memories of the Japanese era, there are others who consider the events of post-1945 to have had a far worse effect on the populace.

Japan has been heavily criticized, and rightfully so in most cases, for not having come squarely to terms with the horrible things that took place prior to the end of the Second World War. The problem lies with the fact that the Japanese disagree among themselves over the extent of what happened, who was responsible, and what, if anything, should be done about it. Year after year, the government and Emperor issue statements of regret, and promises that these actions will never be repeated. Unfortunately, many right-wing Japanese politicians have made absurd remarks over the years that have generated a lot of controversy in the rest of Asia and a lot of continuing resentment toward Japan. These kinds of fools are to be found in all the Western democracies, yet the Japanese are expected to present some sort of common front to the rest of the world when it comes to sensitive issues of its imperial past. As Bloom describes it, Germany has been in "apology-mode" ever since the end of the war, and he criticizes Japan for not doing the same. A valid point, but sixty-five years or a hundred years on, there comes a time when perhaps it is time to move forward, and stop blaming the present generations for the sins of their grandfathers.

One Japanese who does need to apologize to the Taiwanese is this gentleman:

"Shin Nakagomi 中込伸, the Japanese former manager of a Taiwanese professional baseball team, was found guilty of game-fixing Tuesday and sentenced to 20 months in jail, but the sentence was suspended for four years. The Panch'iao 板橋 District Court in T'aipei County 台北縣 also ordered Nakagomi, 40, former manager of the Taipei city-based Brother Elephants, to pay a fine of NT$1.8 million ($56,500/¥4.8 million), including NT$1.5 million that Shin gained in the course of throwing results. The court found Nakagomi attempted to fix game results five times, successfully on three occasions, between April 2008 and September 2009 in conjunction with a number of Taiwan’s best-known players. Nakagomi pleaded guilty on July 13 to all charges after confessing on June 25 to game-fixing, part of a series of scandals that have damaged public confidence in the domestic baseball league. In April, Nakagomi admitted to only one count of game-fixing, but he told the court on July 13 that he changed his plea to a full confession so he could return to Japan as soon as possible to take care of his daughter."

(Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article from Japan Today)

おちゃ ちゃちゃちゃ

Here are a few random photos I took this afternoon, on my way to, in and coming back from the Hsint'ien 新田 hiking trails in T'antzu 潭子.

A Taoist 道教 god, under wraps from what looked like a recent paint job (and covered in black ants).

The sign appears to read "Lunghsing Sanchuang" 龍興三莊 - Lunghsing Three Villages/Farmsteads/Manors? Whatever it is, it looks patriotic.

Later, my wife, daughter and I had dinner at a teppanyaki 鉄板焼き restaurant at the local Carrefour. The paper cups had cutesy Edo period 江戸時代 scenes splashed on them - mine featured Commodore Perry!