《TAIPEI TIMES》 Japanese Cultural Center opens to boost exchanges

/ Staff writer, with CNA

The Japanese Cultural Center, touted as a conduit to boost exchanges and understanding between the two nations, yesterday officially opened in Taipei.

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In an opening ceremony at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, which houses the new center, Japanese Representative to Taiwan Mikio Numata said the center is expected to promote even closer exchanges between Taiwan and Japan.

The center was opened following the signing of a memorandum of understanding （MOU） on cultural exchanges during the Taiwan-Japan economic and trade conference in Tokyo on Wednesday last week, Numata said.

“The MOU is expected to comprehensively boost cultural exchanges between Japanese and Taiwanese culture,” he said.

The center is to work closely with the Taiwan Cultural Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Tokyo, he added.

A series of cultural exchange activities are to be held soon, Numata added.

Chiou I-jen （邱義仁）, head of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, which handles bilateral affairs in the absence of diplomatic ties, said he has high hopes for the center.

“Japan has a unique culture in the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwanese culture has a rich Chinese cultural essence. The coming together of the two cultures will definitely bear much fruit,” he said.

Young Taiwanese are huge fans of Japanese comic books and animated series, Chiou said, but added that Japanese culture goes far deeper.

The center will hopefully continue to promote exchanges that help Taiwanese understand Japanese culture, he said.

The center is on the second floor of the exchange association building, the de facto Japanese embassy in Taiwan.

It has a library with more than 20,000 books on Japanese culture, a tourism information center and conference rooms in the basement.

The library is to be open to the public from 9:15am to 5:30pm on weekdays.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES