Invited by the Taiwan Cultural Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, Tokyo Film Festival senior programmer Kenji Ishizaka (石坂健治) and executive director of the Yokohama Arts Foundation Shinji Ono (小野晉司) visited Taiwan and met with Minister of Culture Li Yuan on June 23. Minister Li said, “Taiwan and Japan will continue to be partners in the future, and there will be more collaborations to come.”
Minister Li noted that he first met Kenji Ishizaka at the Taipei Media School, an experimental educational institution he founded many years ago. During this visit, in addition to attending the Taipei Film Festival, Ishizaka also toured the Taipei Media School. He was impressed by the school’s well-rounded curriculum and student development, including graduates who have pursued further studies in Japan.
Kenji Ishizaka remarked that Japanese audiences have long shown enthusiasm for Taiwanese films. The 2025 Taiwanese Film Showcase, launched by the Taiwan Cultural Center in Japan in May, sold out shortly after tickets were released. He expressed his hope to continue introducing hidden gems from Taiwan to Japanese audiences.
Meanwhile, Shinji Ono announced that Taiwanese jazz groups Jazz Awakening!—Taiwan Spirit (臺味爵醒) and YuYing Hsu Elektrikkkk 5 (許郁瑛帶電五重奏) will debut at this year’s Yokohama JAZZ PROMENADE 2025. Additionally, he revealed that the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre will returned to Japan for the first time in 16 years. “Taiwan currently has transparent cultural policies,” he said. “This is the perfect time to showcase Taiwanese culture to the world.”
Seizing the opportunity to promote the cultural program “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 Osaka, which will take place from Aug. 2 to 20, the Minister presented the program’s mini mascot, a-We, as a gift to two distinguished guests from Japan. Ono mentioned that using such a cute image as the key visual for the cultural program is an effective way to publicize Taiwan.
