International Food and Catering Expo opens in Taipei with nine Japanese companies

International Food and Catering Expo opens in Taipei with nine Japanese companies

2023-04-28

The International Food and Catering Expo is back on in Taipei after a hiatus due to the COVID pandemic. On its opening day on Friday, the expo venue was packed with people itching to try delicacies of all kinds. This year, nine Japanese food companies are showing off their products in Taiwan. They include noodles eaten by Japanese royalty, and a spicy sauce that’s been in production for seven decades. Let’s take a look.

Sizzling turnip cakes and steaming meatballs.

Freshly-shaved bonito flakes and noodles with dipping sauce. Food bargains abound at this post-pandemic food fair, and so do free samples.

Wang Wei-chun
Food vendor
We have a special promotion for Japanese-style New Year’s gift boxes. We also have buy-one-get-one free specials. What’s new this time is that we brought over Japanese companies and century-old shops to show off their techniques here in person.

After a hiatus of almost five years, the International Food and Catering Expo is back, with Taiwanese vendors and nine Japanese companies.

There’s a TV-famous soy sauce brand, a 70-year old recipe of spicy oil, creamy soft serve from Hokkaido and thin hair-like noodles served at Japan’s royal palace. Japanese representatives introduced each of delicacies, one by one.

Mr. Yamamoto
Eighth-gen noodle maker
We knead the dough by hand to keep it soft. Then we pull it in the machine until it’s all uniform strands.

Tatsuro Imamura
Food development head
It’s been three years of COVID, so our company hasn’t come to Taiwan for years. We’re very happy to be here. Japanese perilla is good for the body. We’ve been waiting to introduce it to everybody for a very long time.

Hoping to cash in on post-pandemic business opportunities, Taiwanese and Japanese companies have launched promotions with the goal of making NT$5 to NT$6 million in sales over the four days of the fair. They say it’s time to make up for the lost time during COVID.

日本9廠商參加台北食品展推天皇細麵.胡麻油

2023-04-28

台北食品展，28號在台北世貿一館登場，一大早，就吸引滿滿排隊人潮，今年也特別網羅9家日本廠商，增設日本美食祭，不僅有進貢日本天皇的細麵，還有70年歷史的老牌胡麻油，全由日本職人，遠道而來，親自料理、介紹。

現煎蘿蔔糕，煮貢丸。

還有現削柴魚片，和各種沾醬麵條，除了有超值折扣，疫情後，在展場上，也能毫無顧忌，大口試吃。

[[餐飲業者王維君]]
“這次有特別針對日式年節禮盒有大促銷，另外我們還有很多買一送一的活動，比較獨特的是，這次是特別請日本的廠商，特別是他們很多都是百年老舖，達人來親自來實演”

睽違近5年的食品展，這次除了有台灣廠商，還有九家日本廠商共襄盛舉。

出現在日本知名節目上的醬油，橫跨70年的胡麻辣油，北海道霜淇淋，還有號稱跟髮絲一樣細，進貢日本天皇的素麵，由日本職人，跨海親自一一介紹。

[[日本第八代素麵社長山本太]]
“我們會先用手做搓揉，讓麵團慢慢變軟，再放到機器加工拉長，才能統一規格化”

[[日本食品開發部長今村達郎]]
“經過這次新冠肺炎3年，我們公司已經4年沒來台灣，所以這次出展我們非常開心，日本的紫蘇對身體很好，我們想將這個東西介紹給大家，我們等了這天很久了”

台日廠商，看準解封商機，紛紛祭出限時優惠，目標四天衝破5、6百萬業績，把疫情間的虧損，一次補回來。

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President Joe Biden affirmed the U.S. commitment to defend against North Korean aggression as he welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a pomp-filled state visit, just the second such visit of his administration.

Joe Biden
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Look, a nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partisan – partners – is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action.”

Pyongyang has “greatly increased its missile launch activities” this year and last, the United Nations says. Under the new Washington Declaration, the two allies will bolster defenses against Pyongyang. The United States will set up a Nuclear Consultative Group to allow greater information sharing and give Seoul a greater voice in deliberations over U.S. weapons deployment. In return, Seoul will maintain its non-nuclear status in accordance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty it ratified in 1975. Yoon, on Wednesday, welcomed the agreement.

Yoon Suk Yeol
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In the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack, and [our countries] promised to respond swiftly, overwhelmingly and decisively, using the full force of the Alliance including the United States’ nuclear weapons.”

Biden said the two presidents also discussed security beyond the Korean Peninsula.

Joe Biden
US president
We discussed our work together on promoting peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and beyond. Excuse me. I also affirmed – we together affirmed our shared commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine against Russia’s brutal assault on their freedom or territorial integrity and democracy.

The U.S. and South Korea have been allies since the end of the Korean War, 70 years ago, but analysts say there are questions in South Korea about the strength and credibility of the agreement.

Scott Snyder
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It takes it off the table the possibility of any kind of South Korean development of an indigenous nuclear capability, and it really bolsters the idea that the U.S. and South Korea are going to address North Korea together.

But, Snyder added, the potential for cooperation continues to grow, including in space. On Tuesday, Yoon and Vice President Kamala Harris explored the two nations’ growing ties in space exploration and security, with a tour of a NASA facility near Washington. That’s a sign, he said, that this partnership may go to a new frontier. Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House.

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TPP Chair Ko Wen-je makes presidential ambitions clear after returning from US tour

TPP Chair Ko Wen-je on Friday returned to Taiwan after a 20 day visit to the U.S, where he told reporters he planned to register as a presidential candidate. He did not appear to be interested in responding to a call from KMT leader Eric Chu to join forces with the KMT. He’s expected to formally announce his presidential bid at a press conference before May 20.

Upon hearing people address him as “president,” TPP Chair Ko Wen-je was all smiles. He arrived in the international airport in Taoyuan after a nearly three-week tour of the U.S. He received a warm welcome, and among them was a surprise guest, his wife Peggy Chen.

Peggy Chen
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I missed you a lot. It was OK for the first week, but after two weeks I felt it was a bit weird being all by myself. By the third week, I missed you so much.

During Ko’s trip to the U.S., he was seen going in and out of the AIT headquarters three times, and he also met former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It was obvious that he was pleased with his efforts and had met the people he needed to meet. Recently, KMT leader Eric Chu has called for cooperation with other parties to take down the DPP, giving rise to speculation that he intends to cooperate with the TPP. Ko, however, is not having it.

Ko Wen-je
TPP chair
I’ve said before that I don’t agree with this kind of thing. Why remove the DPP or form a non-DPP alliance? Taiwan belongs to everyone. You can’t say that one political group needs to be eliminated. I still advocate a coalition government that can unite Taiwan.

Ko rejected Chu’s proposal once again. When asked what he thought of the New Taipei City Council changing its time table to push forward the question time for New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih, Ko had all his guns blazing.

Ko Wen-je
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I don’t think this is right. In order to get an individual out of trouble, the general question time has been moved ahead of the question times for each city government department. I don’t think what the KMT is doing here is right, it’s not right to accept this situation. I think they are losing points for this.

Ko seems to clearly have presidential ambitions. And, when asked if he would get a presidential registration form, Ko did not evade and rewarded reporters with a straight answer.

Ko Wen-je
TPP Chairman
I’ll go and do it tomorrow. After out party ratifies it, I’ll hold a formal press conference. It should be before May 20.

Ko seems determined to take part in the presidential election in 2024 with no space for cooperation with the KMT.

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NTCH Ideas Lab explores ‘emo’ through a variety of art forms

The National Theater and Concert Hall’s Ideas Lab is an annual experimental project that combines theater, music, and dance. This year’s theme is "emo." FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a sneak peek.

Blind dancers and other dancers dance together in the dark, combining movements with sounds produced by different objects. The dancers challenge the idea of how dances can be perceived and understood without sight. This is one of the groups performing for the National Theater Concert Hall’s Ideas Lab. Idea Lab is an annual experimental project that combines theater, music, and dance.

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The question that our work is tackling is, in the absence of vision, how do we feel the kinetic energy of a dance or a movement and know what the dance is about? Half of the dancers are blind, while the other half is not.

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This year’s Ideas Lab project centers on the term “emo.” Emo, which is short for “emotional,” is a term used by youth in Taiwan. The term originated from the U.S.’ hardcore punk music culture of the 1980s. This year, NTCH Ideas Lab invited five artists to express the word “emo” through their works.

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The popular term on social media right now is “emo,” which seems to describe being a little helpless and angry about things. But nothing is being done on social platforms. What we see from these artists is that their complaints or anger about injustices and the world are turned into attempts to provide an answer or interpretation through their works. Or they provide a direction to move toward. That’s what’s special about the NTCH Ideas Lab. The spirit of the NTCH IDEAS Lab is “I may have lost, but I am never afraid. When I see a goal, I persevere.”

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United Ukrainian Ballet prepares for Asian debut of ‘Wartime Elegy’ in Taiwan

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A ballerina in a white tutu glides over the stage, performing the romantic pas de deux from “Giselle,” and mesmerizing the audience. This weekend will mark the first time that the United Ukrainian Ballet performs in Taiwan, and rehearsals are on.

Another impassioned duet, but this time from “Spartacus.” You can’t take your eyes off the dancers. This is the ballet’s newest performance, “Wartime Elegy,” which will be making its Asian debut in Taiwan.

Its choreographer is Alexei Ratmansky and it’s his first work since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It intends to convey the optimism of the Ukrainian people. The performers shared their pain for their country with reporters.

Oleksii Kniazkov
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In Ukraine as you know it is quite complicated to do our work, our job. People should go to the shelters when there is an alarm. It’s a crazy situation. I don’t wish anyone to feel anything like this.

The 62 dancers in the troupe all left their homeland due to the war. They regrouped in the Netherlands, and are now touring the world to highlight the importance of peace. Now in Taiwan, they say unity is crucial for smaller countries.

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Free diving is a place where I have no burdens and no stress. But actually the pressure is greater in the water – because of the laws of physics, the water pressure is very high. But you just go down with one breath, and then there’s nothing left except yourself. There can often be too much noise in life. Everywhere you go there’s the sounds of other people, and even the environment can have a big impact. But in the water all that’s left is your heartbeat. Or sometimes, when it gets even quieter, it can feel like you can hear the fish talking to you. That’s something really fascinating about free diving, I think. Because I can do whatever I like in the water, just like a fish.

After a period feeling lost and directionless, Zhang found free diving when he graduated from university. Diving helped him find himself again. Though it may seem like a dangerous extreme sport to some, for him it’s a path of getting to know the sea, getting to know himself, and mastering the knowledge of the sport. The rewards are priceless.

Afa Zhang
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You go through breath training again and again, and you realize, “Wow, I’m more capable than I imagined!” And you want to see where your limits are, or how far or how deep you can swim. Water sports are always something that take some getting to know. Everyone says the sea is dangerous, but what’s actually dangerous is that you don’t know how to assess the risks and you haven’t got to understand it.

Free diving is not just a way to have fun. It’s a chance to get to know the ocean, get closer to yourself – and maybe even discover a whole new perspective on life.

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