FOCUS: Lantern Festival Host City Showcases Taiwan-Japan History, Culture

By Sakurako Nakagawa Chiayi, Taiwan, April 5 (Jiji Press)–Futuristic skyscrapers, popular bubble tea shops and lively night street markets–talking of a trip to Taiwan, many would imagine visiting Taipei. However, the southern city of Chiayi, which hosted this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival, has many attractive but relatively unknown historic sites with deep roots in Japan. This year’s 21-meter-high main lantern of the island’s largest event in the Lunar New Year Holiday period presented the rich and distinctive history of Chiayi, taking spectators on a time travel journey of centuries in a five-minute show laced with dazzling lights, music and mist sprays. A round screen surrounding the bottom of the majestic tree-shaped lantern showcased scenes ranging from the formation of the island of Taiwan to the prosperity of the Tsou local indigenous people, as well as Alishan Forest Railway, which was established by Japan in the early 20th century to carry cypress lumber logged from the mountains. The Alishan area developed as a timber production center under the Japanese rule. Its high-quality cypress lumber found its way into many famous shrines and temples in Japan, including Todaiji Temple’s Daibutsu-den, or the Great Buddha Hall in Nara, an ancient Japanese capital. “Nebuta” Lantern from Japan The lantern festival served as a place of cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. This year, a massive “nebuta” float–a traditional paper-based lantern featured in a popular festival in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan–appeared in the annual event for the first time, drawing visitors’ attention with its colors, shape and size. The nebuta created for the event depicted Maso, Taiwan’s well-known marine goddess. Since a nebuta usually takes some two months to create, “it was challenging” to complete the work in just one month in a foreign land, nebuta creator Makoto Suwa said. Another creator, Hiromi Hayashi, who worked with Suwa, talked about his approach to capturing an image of the exotic god, saying, “People in Taiwan often go to temples and pray to statues of gods, so they have specific images of them.” Bearing that in mind, the creators went to local temples to make sure their portrayal was recognizable. Taiwanese visitors admired the nebuta. “I was overwhelmed. It was like they were moving,” said Wang Yi-jang, who came to the event to visit a booth featuring Super Mario, a Nintendo Co. character, with a friend. Wang added that he was “glad to see a depiction of Maso from the perspective of Japanese artists.” Legacies of Japan Japan ruled Taiwan as a colony for half a century until 1945, and buildings from the period still remain in many corners of the island. During Japanese rule, there were a number of conflicts with local people due to oppression, but according to a local guide, Taiwanese people chose to preserve many colonial-era buildings, breathing new life into them as new tourist spots, backed by the recent “retro” trend among young people. “Many people in Taiwan have a positive image of Japan for its anime and manga rather than focusing on history,” the guide said. Besides, the Taiwanese are fond of preserving old buildings regardless of their origins, she added. For example, many railway station buildings constructed by Japan are used as public spaces, even after they ceased to play their original role. Alishan Forest Railway’s Beimen Station in Chiayi was a center where timber was collected from the mountain for export. The mountain railway is popular among tourists, particularly those who want to trek and watch the sunrise. The former station building quietly stands near a small park and a day care facility. Painted in vivid green, the wooden building has delighted visitors as a cafe and souvenir shop since 2023. The former Taichung Station building in the island’s central region is a distinctive structure made of red bricks, white limestone and a slate roof, echoing the iconic Tokyo Station in the Japanese capital. The former station, far larger than the old Beimen Station, now serves as an outdoor exhibition space, where visitors can see old rail tracks up close and explore an old train renovated into a variety shop adorned with seasonal decorations. Red brick walls with posters of anime characters, such as “Crayon Shin-chan” from Japan, are an unexpected combination, but this may show Taiwanese people’s tolerance of foreign culture. Friendship in Art Cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan are also evident in modern-style tourist destinations. Acclaimed Japanese architect Toyoo Ito designed the National Taichung Theater, which was built in 2014. It has since become a landmark of the city for its unique design, including its curved exterior and cave-like interior. Built in front of a large park, the opera house has the atmosphere of an urban oasis. Also in Taichung, popular sweet shop Butter Hotel features contemporary artists including Tomomi Awaji and Hikaru Matsubara from Japan to create an imaginative hotel-like shop. The yellow building appears to be a classic Western-style hotel, but it is actually a butter cookie shop full of dreamy, photogenic artworks, such as fake elevators and a shower that pours out music. The shop is also known for various gift boxes crafted by international artists. Matsubara designed a box with an original character that fuses together Taiwan’s signature pineapples and bubble tea, while Awaji created an artwork inspired by popular personality test MBTI, expressing the importance of mutual understanding. A shop official said that both box designs are gaining popularity for their warm, friendly touches. Needless to say, people enjoy art regardless of its origin. However, from the colossal nebuta lantern to playful contemporary artworks, Japan and Taiwan keep influencing each other in the field of art. Wang Wen-chih, a Chiayi-born artist who made an installation for this year’s lantern festival and has experience in participating art festivals in Japan, said that art is a good way to get familiar with different cultures. He added that talking about each other while creating an artwork together is “always a fruitful time.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]