Taiwan Plus, the largest Taiwanese cultural festival in Japan organized by the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC), will return to Tokyo under the theme of "Taiwan x Japan (台日一起)" in September. Taiwanese bands Fire EX. (滅火器), Cosmos People (宇宙人), and Wonfu (旺福) have been invited to perform at the festival.
This is the fourth time the festival has been held. According to the press release, GACC is organizing its biggest-ever edition with over 100 Taiwanese brands and 10 performing groups participating.
The opening ceremony on Sept. 16 will be held in private, featuring guest performances by Amis Kakeng Musical Group (AMIS旮亙樂團) and Cosmos People. On Sept. 16 and 17, festivalgoers will be able to enjoy music performances by Huang Tzu-hsuan (黃子軒), Kivi, Dremedreman (曾妮), Makav (真愛), Henry Hsu (許富凱), Wonfu, Fire EX., Dan Hsueh (薛詒丹), Sorry Youth (拍謝少年), Iruka Police (海豚刑警), and other performers.
GACC secretary-general Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶) stated that the theme of this year's music program "Island Friends (海島好朋友)" embodies the strong cultural characteristics of Taiwan as an ocean nation. Through the use of music, Taiwan aims to strengthen bonds with neighboring countries as well as introduce the diversity of Taiwanese culture to our like-minded friends in Japan.
GACC stated that the Taiwanese band Iruka Police was named after a character in the famous Japanese manga series "Kochikame: Tokyo Beat Cops;" while singer Henry Hsu has covered many Taiwanese songs based on Japanese melodies. Both of these examples show the close connection between Taiwan and Japan in terms of culture and music.
(Photo courtesy of GACC)