Image reproduced from 中央社

The Taiwan-Japan Friendship Exchange Foundation in Tainan has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Shikoku Tourism Promotion Council of Japan. This partnership aims to strengthen youth exchanges between the two regions through educational travel, enabling young people to engage in diverse discussions regarding culture, history, and local lifestyles.

The signing ceremony held on the 16th was attended by the foundation's executive director, Yin Shih-hsi, and the representative from Shikoku, Izumi Masafumi. Both parties are committed to linking Taiwanese and Japanese youth, enhancing their understanding of each other’s backgrounds and lifestyles through substantive exchange activities.

Since last year, the Taiwan-Japan Friendship Exchange Foundation has been actively fostering practical exchanges with Shikoku, organizing visits for local youth to Tainan where they can experience local culture and lifestyle. Additionally, Tainan students are scheduled to travel to Shikoku for cultural learning experiences, thus facilitating a collaborative craft exploration project grounded in their shared historical and cultural characteristics, establishing a foundation for future cooperation.

During this collaboration, the foundation also appointed Tetsuya Matsuura, an advisor to the Advisory Committee on Educational Travel at the International Marketing Association for Taiwan's Tourism Industry, as the “Special Ambassador for Taiwan-Japan Educational Travel Shikoku Exchange Support,” aiming to encourage more young people from Shikoku to visit Tainan. Yin expressed hopes that both sides can further expand cooperation in various fields, including culture, tourism, education, and sports, while Izumi hopes for mutual visits so that young people can experience each other's cultures firsthand.

The foundation envisions that educational travel can serve as a bridge between the youth of Taiwan and Japan, injecting more vitality and hope into both cities. Through continuous exchanges, it aims to cultivate recognition and respect for each other's cultures and to provide children with opportunities to broaden their horizons, enabling them to become the backbone of future exchanges between the two regions.