Choshi – a Tokyo 2020 Olympics Host Town Fully Dedicated to Welcoming Taiwan

The Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan (TECRO Japan) visited Chiba Prefecture (千葉縣) on August 7 to promote exchanges between the host towns and cities of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the cities of Taiwan. Japanese towns and cities have been registering as Host Towns and Host Cities to host athletes and visitors from different countries and regions. Each registration is associated with an Olympic or Paralympic sport. A country or region can be hosted by more than one host town or city and more than 20 have registered to host people from Taiwan. One of these is Choshi.

Choshi is located in the easternmost part of the Kanto region of Japan and has the earliest sunrise in Japan. Choshi has had close contact with Taiwan in recent years, and to enhance friendly relations, the city applied to the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee to register as a host town for Taiwan. Taiwan’s female national softball team has come to Choshi for training in the past, and the city has also signed a contract with the Softball Association of Taiwan. 

The visitors were warmly welcomed by Mr. Shinichi Koshikawa (越川信一), the Mayor of Choshi City and the feasibility of jointly holding cultural and tourism related exchange activities during next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics was discussed.
The mayor of Choshi said that he sincerely hopes that the female national softball team of Taiwan would be able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, assuring his visitors that the city is fully dedicated to supporting this softball team and the athletes from Taiwan who compete in other sports.

TECRO Japan has an Olympics working group, which is planning an exhibition of Taiwan’s cultural features and tourist attractions to be held in Choshi City. Mayor Koshikawa has offered to recommend some appropriate venues for the exhibition, including the lobby of the city hall, and the city office will provide as much assistance as they can. 

They will also invite Taiwan’s representative team to join in the events when the Olympic Torch arrives at Choshi City on July 3, 2020. Taiwan and Choshi are looking forward to enhancing mutual understanding and building friendly relations through the events related to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.