By Lin Tsuei-yi / Staff reporter in TOKYO
Members of the Taiwanese community in Japan on Sunday walked along a route in Tokyo that resembled an outline of Taiwan.
The walk was organized to commemorate Ng Chiao-tong (黃昭堂), the former head of World United Formosans for Independence, who went into exile in Japan in 1958 and returned to Taiwan in the 1990s.
Participants gathered at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo’s Shibuya District at 9am on Sunday, then walked through the famed commercial areas of Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Nakano, returning to the park’s Sangubashi Gate at about 3pm.
Photo courtesy of the Japan Formosan Association
The 17km walk took them six hours to complete, said the Japan Formosan Association, which organized the event.
Participants traced Taiwan’s outline which had been recorded on a mapping app, association chairman Shogo Hayashi said.
Thirty people began the walk and more joined along the way, with more than 100 people arriving at the finish, Hayashi said.
Ng was a highly respected Taiwanese figure in Japan, and founded several Taiwanese democracy organizations while in exile. He died on Nov. 17, 2011.
“Every year around this time, the Taiwanese community in Japan organizes events to remember Ng,” Hayashi said. “Taiwan is facing a crucial election in early 2024, and so we undertook this effort … to display our determination to safeguard Taiwan.”
“The participants included many Taiwanese expatriates from across Japan, as well as Japanese who are good friends of Taiwan,” Hayashi said. “Some were young Taiwanese who are working in Japan, and a few were Taiwanese tourists who were on holiday in Japan and wanted to join this worthy effort.”
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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