Taiwanese consumption is too expensive, Izumi Yutai joked that he owes President Tsai 3 million Japanese tourists[Exclusive interview]| Politics | Central News Agency CNA

(Central News Agency reporter Huang Yashi, Taipei, 1st) Yuyasu Izumi, the outgoing Japanese representative in Taiwan, was recently awarded a medal by President Tsai. He revealed that President Tsai planned to visit Japan as his first stop after leaving office. Regarding the fact that the number of visitors to Japan from Taiwan far exceeds that of Japanese visitors to Taiwan, Izumi Yutai joked that he had apologized to President Tsai, “There is nothing we can do because Taiwanese people are getting richer and richer, and consumption is too expensive.”

Izumi Yutai took office on November 1, 2019, and is scheduled to leave Taiwan on November 6 this year. In an exclusive interview with Central News Agency today, he talked about the declining trend of Japanese tourists to Taiwan. He joked that every time President Tsai Ing-wen meets him, she will say that Taiwan has more than 5 million tourists to Japan a year, while Japan only has more than 200 tourists to Taiwan. Ten thousand.

Izumi Yutai said that he always replied, “President Tsai is sorry, I owe you 3 million (Japanese tourists), and I will work harder.” The big gap in the number of tourists between the two sides is mainly because Taiwanese people are getting richer and richer, which makes Taiwan consume more It has become more expensive in Japan due to the depreciation of the yen. Although it is beneficial to industrial exports, 1 US dollar is currently equivalent to 151 yen, which is very difficult for Japanese tourists to travel.

Izumi Yutai said that it used to be cheaper for Japanese to visit Taiwan than to Okinawa. Now it has become more expensive to visit Taiwan. On the contrary, it is cheaper to visit South Korea, so many Japanese tourists are switching to South Korea.

Izumi Yutai explained that in the past, many Japanese tourists to Taiwan were young people and they would choose to stay in cheaper 3-star hotels. However, during the COVID-19 epidemic, a large number of affordable business hotels in Taiwan closed down, and there were often only 5 accommodation options left in Taiwan. Star-rated hotels, “So young Japanese people can’t come, they’re too expensive.”

Izumi Yuyasu said that the Japanese Representative Office in Taiwan hopes to have more Japanese tourists come to Taiwan, but Taiwan also needs to work hard and think about how to provide “more people-friendly tourism.”

When Yutai Izumi was awarded the “Grand Ribbon Star Medal” by President Tsai a few days ago, he invited President Tsai to visit Japan after leaving office. He said that President Tsai responded that the first country he would visit after leaving office was Japan. He praised President Tsai for his fluent English. President Tsai said that he wanted to start learning Japanese after retirement.

Talking about the items that Japan hopes Taiwan can further open to import, Yutai Izumi said that currently only about 1 to 2% of Fukushima food products have not yet been opened to Taiwan. If this can be completely solved, Japan will certainly be very grateful.

Izumi Yutai said that Japan also hopes to increase bilateral fruit openness. Taiwan is a fruit paradise, but Japan also has many good fruits. For example, Japanese strawberries are very famous, but some pesticides used in Japan have not been used in Taiwan, so Taiwan refuses to import them. These problems need to be gradually resolved. In the past two years, the Taiwan-Japan Fruit Exhibition has been held in front of the Presidential Palace to promote bilateral fruit exchanges.

Regarding concerns about pollution caused by Japan’s discharge of Fukushima nuclear wastewater, Yutai Izumi emphasized that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Taiwanese experts have visited Japan for on-site inspections. The Japanese side has determined that these practices are safe based on a scientific attitude. “Some The country says Japanese seafood is dangerous, but they still eat it when they come to Japan.”

At the end of the interview, when asked what he wanted to say to the Taiwanese people, Izumi Yutai sincerely shouted, “Come on Taiwan, stay strong.” He believed that just as former President Lee Teng-hui said, Taiwan’s identity is very important, and Taiwan must continue to work hard to contribute to the international community in the future. Social Contributions. (Editor: Xie Jiazhen) 1121101