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Little Japan
Taiwan was occupied by Japan for an extended period of time, for around 50 years until 1945. Still some older people speak Japanese. Despite the occupation period, Japan seems to enjoy a rather good reputation in Taiwan, as opposed to other countries that have seen Japan as an invader. The fact that the Japanese lay the foundation for the country`s economical success that followed later by remodelling its infrastructure, namely transportation may have contributed to this.
There is a heavy presence of Japanese companies and brands and their popularity is soaring among young people especially. Japan seems to be considered cool and hip and technologically cutting-edge from what I have heard. Tokyo is an extremely popular destination for short trips, especially shopping trips. Japanese pop music is very popular. Japanese fashion is sold in hip boutiques and is considered super trendy among the
young. Luckily though they show a bit more restraint in expressing their fashion sense... The large Japanese department stores and clothes brands have jumped on that train and opened branches in Taiwan`s cities. Mitsukoshi and Co. can be seen all over Taipei and other cities.
Japanese food is equally en vogue. Sushi now also features the menu on the night market where you can grab some dirt cheap nigiri. Some Japanese chain restaurants like Yoshinoya or the Japanese competitor to McDo, Mo`s Burger are very present and popular too.
The title of the article is provocative to a Taiwanese for sure. And it certainly isn`t "Little Japan" that much. But the influence of Japanese culture is visib
le and does not seem to be rejected. Is it a genuine love for all things Japanese? Or is it rather a second worst alternative for a country that tries to distinguish itself from the threatening "homeland" China from where most of its culture comes from? Obviously, the leaning towards America is strong as well. Besides all Taiwanese having an English name as well they also are quite keen English learners and way more successful than the Japanese. The Japanese language seems to have lost almost all significance, young people focus on English study and skip Japanese. However, Japanese words such as "sugoi", "kawaii" etc. are very trendy and you hear exclamations of those by the young generation very often, so again Japan provides the fashionable element.
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