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Thursday, 3rd November 2011
In Japan Travel News,
Japan voted top tourist destination by Taiwanese
It could be the stunning scenery or its cultural vibrancy that attracts visitors to its shores, but either way it is evident Japan is the number one hotspot for Taiwanese tourists.
That is according to research from Nielsen, which showed that 57 per cent of respondents planned to travel to the island within the next two years, well ahead of its nearest contender, China, which attracted 29 per cent of the vote.
Hong Kong proved to be the third most popular destination after 23 per cent of people surveyed suggested that is where they would be jetting off to before the end of 2014, Focus Taiwan reported.
Those intending to take an exciting trek across the globe to Japan might like to stop of at the National Art Centre Tokyo to view a sculpture dedicated to volunteers of the March 11th disaster.
A 57-year-old off-licence owner, Seiju Okame, put his creative skills to work after the tragedy by carving a wooden piece entitled Volunteer to honour respondents to the quake and ensuing tsunami, the Daily Yomiuri reported.
It was selected for the 43rd Nitten Exhibition at the art centre in Roppongi and was inspired by Okame's experience of volunteering in anticrime patrols.
As he watched volunteers swarm the Fukushima prefecture to clear rubble and cook for evacuees, he decided in August to set about creating the sculpture of a woman in work clothes carrying a shovel.
He told the news provider that he thought he "should not stay depressed forever", coming up with the idea of a statue to remember the volunteers' good work.
Okame is no stranger to the art world either, as his work has been accepted for the Nitten Exhibition seven times.
He continues to work in anticrime patrols and has no plans to throw in his sculpting tools.
Mr Okame concluded: "I'd like to continue sculpting to return to the life before March 11 without giving in to the current situation."
Posted by Susan Ballion