Visually impaired people from Taiwan and Japan take a friendship tour in Japan with tandem bicycles -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

Visually impaired people from Taiwan and Japan take a friendship tour in Japan with tandem bicycles

Date: 2014-04-17

Visually impaired people from Taiwan and Japan take a friendship tour in Japan with tandem bicycles

The Angel Wings Bicycle Team, consisting of 10 visually impaired people and 11 volunteers, arrived in Japan on March 26, 2014 to take part in a Taiwan-Japan Friendship Goodwill Tour. This was jointly held by the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka and the not-for-profit organization Japanese Bicycle Volunteers. The participants rode tandem bicycles around Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Ehime over a three-day period.

The Chairman of Japan Bicycle Volunteers, Mr. Takezawa, who is now 90 years old, led a group of 4 visually impaired people and 2 volunteers on a visit to Taiwan in August last year. With the help of the Angel Wings Bicycle Team, they rode tandem bicycles from Taipei to Kaohsiung in 3 days on the Western Highway Line. As well as enjoying the beautiful scenery, they were warmly welcomed by the people they met along the way; they were all so deeply moved that they decided to invite the Angel Wings Bicycle Team to come to Japan. Chairman Takezawa said that they created a special sweatshirt as a present to welcome the Taiwan team: it depicts the national flags of Taiwan and Japan. Both teams wear it as their team members' uniform. The Japanese Bicycle Volunteers also obtained 30 little flags from TECO in Osaka, to boost their own morale and to promote friendly feelings between the people of Taiwan and Japan, to Japanese people who caught sight of them along their route.

At the departure ceremony fare-welling the Angel Wings Bicycle Team, Mr. Tsai, the Consul General of TECO in Osaka, indicated that the indomitable spirit of the visually impaired people of Taiwan and Japan demonstrate, overcoming their physical handicaps and many obstacles, is deeply moving and impressive to everyone. Everyone hopes that this event will spur other organizations to hold exchanges, strengthen cooperation, and jointly promote friendly relations between Taiwan and Japan.