The General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC, 中華文化總會) will hold Taiwan Plus 2019 Taiwan Shin Kankaku in Tokyo, Japan, this September to promote Taiwan's culture.
Zhang Tiezhi (張鐵志), the deputy secretary-general of the GACC, held a press conference in Tokyo on Monday (Aug. 19) to announce the details of "Taiwan Plus 2019," which will be held on September 28 and 29 in Tokyo's Ueno Onshi Park (上野公園). This year's event will be larger in scale than last year's inaugural "Taiwan Plus," which drew 55,000 visitors in two days, reported the Central News Agency (CNA).
Many of the Japanese who attended the 2018 event were impressed by the Taiwanese craftsmanship and artistic creativity they encountered. Zhang hopes to build on this success and take advantage of the upcoming Olympics to promote Taiwan's contemporary culture and creative energy.
The theme for the 2019 edition is "Taiwan Shin Kankaku," which means "new feelings of Taiwan" in Japanese. The event will focus on a younger, more urban, and more modern Taiwanese culture that can be experienced through touch, scent, sight, taste, and hearing.
There will be a Taiwan-themed culture market at the event organized by Koji Tasuku (小路輔), the general manager of Fujin Tree Group, who has always been enthusiastic about the cultural exchange between Taiwan and Japan. The market targets at "the third-time visitor in Taiwan," introducing up-to-date inside information to Japanese who are interested in acquiring a deep understanding of their island neighbor.
Taiwanese and Japanese brands are collaborating to bring original products to the market. For example, Taiwan Beer and the Japanese hostel CITAN will offer Taiwanese-flavored beer snacks they jointly developed, and Tainan's Panlang (香蘭男子電棒燙) will launch a line of clothes co-designed with Kakuozan Larder from Japan's Nagoya.
Music performances will be another highlight at the event. This year's lineup includes the Hakka band Sheng-xiang & Band (生祥樂團), funk band Cosmos People (宇宙人), award-winning rapper DJ Didilong (李英宏), jazz singer 9m88, indigenous singer-songwriter Balai, rock band Tizzy Bac, Taipei-based band DSPS, and R&B singer L8ching (雷擎).
GACC is a non-governmental organization that aims to promote Taiwanese culture and soft power with non-commercial activities. The name "Taiwan Plus" is meant to indicate that "Taiwan is full of possibilities waiting to be explored."
By Taiwan News
