Taiwan thanked Japan for its $1 million donation to help the country rebuild the country after the most severe earthquake in Taiwan in 25 years, which struck on Wednesday.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced the donation at a press conference yesterday.
“Japan and Taiwan have been vital friends, supporting each other when faced with hardships, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Photo courtesy of a reader
After a devastating earthquake struck Japan’s Noto Peninsula in January, Taiwan received “important and moving support,” for which Japan is “really grateful,” he said.
Tokyo also pledged to “offer active support” in line with Taiwan’s wishes and wishes for a speedy recovery and reconstruction of the affected areas, he said.
Speaking in Taipei, presidential office spokesperson Olivia Lin (林聿禪) expressed her sincere gratitude to the Japanese people and society for their care and assistance.
In addition to the scary messages from Japanese political figures, many Japanese governments and corporations have made donations on their own initiative, fully demonstrating the valuable friendship between Taiwan and Japan, he said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry thanked Japan for its help, adding that the donations would be given to the national government for coordination and reconstruction.
Several Japanese local governments are also increasing the budget for Taiwan, adding the prefectures of Kagoshima, Ehime, Yamagata, Yamanashi, Kumamoto, and Fukuoka; the towns of Matsuyama, Kitakyushu, Omuta, Kurume, Takasaki, Morioka, Kasama, Himi, Ofunato, Yokosuka and Fukushima; the villages of Yonaguni, Tatsugo and Minamisanriku; and Tokyo’s Suginami region, local media reported.
Many Japanese supported the effort and said it was an opportunity to thank the Taiwanese for their help after this year’s Noto Peninsula earthquake and the 2011 Great Earthquake in eastern Japan.
On the personal side, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, as well as entertainment company LDH JAPAN, have donated 10 million yen (US$66,061) to help in the earthquake.
EM
Japan’s LY Corp, a joint stock company of Line Corp and Yahoo!Japan, had raised more than 110. 9 million yen to help in the aftermath of the earthquake in Taiwan as of 10 p. m. last night.
The Japanese Red Cross began accepting donations in the morning, which can be made by bank transfer to the organization’s compromised bank accounts; using credit cards, Amazon Pay or Pay-easy; or at convenience retail stores through June 28, Fuji News Network reported.
The donations will be used for crisis relief and reconstruction, as well as for the organization’s crisis prevention and mitigation projects, he said.
Japanese convenience retailers began raising funds for Taiwan yesterday: 7-Eleven will accept donations until April 21, while FamilyMart and Lawson will accept donations until April 18.
Skylark Holdings, which operates the Gusto and Bamiyan restaurants in Japan, began collecting donations at its roughly 2,700 restaurants on Thursday, Fuji News Network reported.
Japanese band King Gnu announced that their concerts today and tomorrow at the Taipei Music Center will go ahead as planned and that proceeds from those two concerts will be donated to earthquake relief.
The Yomiuri Giants baseball club has donated 10 million yen and is accepting donations at games starting tomorrow.
The xlub also plans to hold charity sales and auctions of signed baseball jerseys through its players, the main points of which will be announced at a later date, according to the team’s website.
Players from the Oisix Niigata Albirex baseball club, including Taiwan’s Yang Dai-kang (陽岱鋼), will hold fundraisers after their home games from tomorrow.