TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a three-year hiatus, Taiwan Plus Market has returned to Tokyo and features 70 brands, making it the biggest version of the event since it was founded in 2018.
Co-hosted by the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC) and Eslite Bookstore, Taiwan Plus Market opened in Ueno Park, Tokyo, on Saturday (Sept. 17). There are 70 Taiwanese brands and eight bands taking part in the two-day event.
Thousands of people gathered before the opening at 11 a.m, according to GACC. The traditional games played in Taiwan’s night markets and street food were very popular.
Taiwan’s envoy in Tokyo, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), GACC Vice Chairman Antonio Chiang (江春男), and Japan member of the House of Representatives Furuya Keiji, appeared at the opening ceremony on Saturday. Hsieh said that Japan and Taiwan are like siblings and that "Japan always supports Taiwan when we face challenges in international situations."
Furuya expressed gratitude to Taiwan as it offered facial masks when Japan needed them most during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2022, he and 20 members of parliament are scheduled to visit Taiwan and celebrate Taiwan's National Day.
Jennifer Lu, 32, told Taiwan News that she learned about the event on Instagram. Compared to other events hosted in Japan by Taiwan’s organizers, there were more creatively designed products and this gave her an extra reason to go.
Lu shared that the sandwiches of Hung Rui Chen Taiwan Pastry (洪瑞珍) were already sold out when she arrived at the venue around 1 p.m. “I was so sad! Some of my friends went to the event because of the sandwiches.”
However, Lu still enjoyed NINAO Gelato’s soft ice cream and Taiwan beer while listening to Fang Wu’s (吳汶方) live performance. According to Lu, she waited in a queue for over an hour just to get a green onion pancake.
Lu said she had been looking forward to live performances by Dadado Huang (黃玠), band Fire EX., and Indigenous musician Suming Rupi, on Sunday (Sept. 18), but a typhoon was expected so she would likely not be able to make it.
(Jennifer Lu photo)
(Jennifer Lu photo)
(Jennifer Lu photo)
(Jennifer Lu photo)
