The main exhibition area of the 2020 Taiwan Lantern Festival was grandly opened on the 8th. After the initiating ceremony of “Manga Kingdom of the Tottri Prefecture,” the Speaker of Tottri Prefectural Assembly from Japan, Yoshikazu Fujinawa, today (10th) officially visited the Taichung City Government and was greeted by Deputy Mayor Bruce J.D. Linghu who thanked the participation of Tottri Prefecture, Japan in the 2020 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taichung for facilitating arts and cultural exchanges between two sides.
Deputy Mayor Linghu said the two sides have been cooperation over 20 years and the agreement of sister cities was signed in November, 2018. Last year, the delegation of Taichung City Government paid a visit to Tottri Prefecture and participated in the successful event of “Biking Exploration Festival.” That visit benefited from the understanding of both sides towards tourism, culture and sports. This year, Tottri Prefecture came to Taiwan and set up the famous manga lantern installation, “Manga Kingdom of the Tottri Prefecture,” to further facilitate exchanges between two sides.
Speaker Yoshikazu Fujinawa said he would like to thank for the support of Taichung City Government and he felt honored to take part in the Festival. He also invited the Taichung City Government to join the Shan Shan Festival on August 14th this year. That Festival is the largest scale in the Tottri Prefecture and each year attracts more than 200,000 visitors. Exciting performances from award winning groups will also be presented.
According to the Secretariat of Taichung City Government, the Tottri Prefecture has been known as the “Kingdom of Manga” and the exhibition of“Manga Kingdom of the Tottri Prefecture” exhibited in the area of international friendship lanterns consists of works of artists from the Tottri Prefecture including “Gegege no Kitaro” by Shigeru Mizuki, “A Distant Neighborhood” by Jiro Taniguchi and “Detective Conan” by Gosho Aoyama featuring unique cultural and natural landscape of the Tottri Prefecture. Visitors are invited to the main lantern exhibition area in Houli Forest Park and Horse Farm Park.
The Tottri Prefectural Delegation was greeted by Deputy Mayor Bruce J.D. Linghu, Vice Secretary General, Hung Guo-Jung, Commissioner of International Affairs Office, Hsieh Ming-Da as well as representatives from Bureau of Economic Development, Bureau of Tourism and Travel, and International Affairs Office. The visit was a successful exchange event.