An exhibition showcasing mementos from Taiwan’s railway system including photographs, ticket stubs and archive footage kicked off June 10 in Tokyo, showcasing the history and development of the country’s iconic transport network.
Jointly staged by Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan and Taiwan’s National Railway Museum Preparatory Office, the event is titled “Culture Meeting—the Path of Taiwan’s Railways.” It is running at two locations in Tokyo: bookstore Eslite Spectrum Nihonbashi until July 31 and Taiwan Cultural Center until Aug. 31.
At the launch event, Taiwan’s representative to Japan Frank Hsieh said the exhibits reminded him of happy times spent riding the railway network as a child. The exhibition is an opportunity to introduce Taiwan’s railway culture to another country famed for its locomotives, hopefully inspiring more tourists and trainspotters to visit and share in the experience for themselves, he added.
Among the major attractions in the exhibit are 85 photographs of famous locations on the current Taiwan Railways network. These include the country’s Sugar Railways, High Speed Rail, Alishan Forest Railway, Mining Railways and Mass Rapid Transit systems.
To mark the exhibition’s opening, two documentaries featuring interviews with the participating photographers and footage of the traditional method for printing train tickets have also been released. Both were filmed by Huang Wei-sheng, one of the exhibition photographers, and can be viewed on the official website and TECRO’s Facebook page. (TYT-E)
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