Japanese Students Hold Event To Thank Taiwanese People for Donations Following 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

By Masatsugu Sonoda / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

20:00 JST, March 11, 2024

TAIPEI — Japanese students in Taiwan held an annual event on Sunday to thank the Taiwanese people for their generous donations after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Monday marked the 13th anniversary of the disaster.

At the event held in Tamsui, northern Taiwan, the students, Taiwanese administrative officials and a number of local residents observed a minute-long moment of silence.

Japanese students in Taiwan have planned and managed the event every year since 2012. The name of the event translates to “Thank you, Taiwan.”

This time, the Japanese participants also thanked the Taiwanese people for their approximately ¥2.5 billion donations to the areas hit by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on Jan. 1.

Photos of the disaster-hit areas were displayed at the venue, and performers including a group singing Kyu Sakamoto’s representative number “Ue o Muite Aruko,” which literally means “Walk with your chin up” and is also known as “Sukiyaki,” and a group performing wadaiko Japanese traditional drums put on a show.