Minister of Culture Li Yuan is visiting Japan Sept. 4-7 to bolster cultural exchanges and deepen Taiwan’s friendship with its East Asian neighbor, the Ministry of Culture said.
According to Li, this is his first official trip in his current position. The visit dovetails with the delivery of Water of Immortality, an iconic statue from sculptor Huang Tu-shui’s early career, to an upcoming exhibition of his work at Tokyo University of the Arts, the minister said, adding that he intends to bring knowledge from Japan’s successful cultural industry experience to Taiwan through exchanges with representatives from fields ranging from museums, movies, and music to comics and publishing.
Li first stopped at the National Art Center, Tokyo, where he met with the center’s director Eriko Osaka and praised Japan’s thriving comics industry. Osaka said that the reason behind this is the worldwide popularity of its output. Li said that Taiwan’s production of comics is increasing with support from the government, and some of them have won Japanese comics awards, adding that the ministry will continue working to boost Taiwan’s export of its comics.
The minister additionally visited the center’s exhibition in honor of the 35th anniversary of CLAMP, an all-female group of Japanese manga artists, also called mangaka. He was accompanied by Ken Akamatsu, a mangaka who also holds a seat in the House of Councillors. They exchanged hand-drawn portraits by Taiwan artist Rimui and Akamatsu himself.
Following the visit, Li called on Keiji Furuya, member of the House of Representatives and chair of the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council. Li thanked Furuya for his continued support of Taiwan and of events held by the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo. Furuya reaffirmed his backing for Taiwan and spoke of his work facilitating mutual exhibitions of national treasures. (YCH-E)
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