2022 "Meet Our Friendship Cities in Taoyuan" Exhibition: Narita, Chiba, Japan

Over the past seven years, Taoyuan City has continued to strengthen its international exchanges, raise its international visibility, and gradually enhance the international perspective of the public and private sectors to create business opportunities. To date, it has forged alliances with 33 cities around the world, laying a solid foundation for city diplomacy. In addition to sharing governance expertise, it also maintains ties through various exchange activities.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, international cities have only been able to communicate with each other online through video conferencing. The "Meet Our Friendship Cities in Taoyuan" Exhibition had participation from 14 sister cities and friendly cities from five countries in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Commemorative gifts and wonderful products from various countries were on display, enabling visitors to the Taoyuan exhibition to enjoy a taste of cities overseas and feel the glow of warmth and friendship from afar.

Narita City is a major gateway to Japan. Narita International Airport is second to none in numbers of daily flights and cargo throughput. The city's Naritasan Shinshoji Temple has a history going back more than 1,000 years, and the Ichikawa family of Kabuki actors have worshipped at the temple for generations. In 2015, Ichikawa Ebizō XI was appointed as a "Narita Brand Ambassador" to promote the culture and tourism of Narita City. Meanwhile, the 300-year-old Narita Gion Festival attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Narita products such as eel and yōkan are renowned for their unforgettable quality.

Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, has a history stretching back more than 1,000 years. Since ancient times, it has been a gathering place for worshippers, and the streets around it are rich in antique style. A grand festival is held every year with Shinshoji Temple at the center. The names of participating groups are marked on lanterns.

The hanten has a history going back more than 300 years. The traditional clothing used in the Narita Gion Festival is usually marked with the participating group’s name on the front and the business name or emblem on the back.

In Japanese culture, the Daruma (modeled after Bodhidharma) is the wish mascot. The supplicant paints in one eye when they make their wish, and the other when the wish has been fulfilled. On the left is the Daruma created by Narita City's tourist mascot Unari-kun when he participated in the Mascot Championship. Narita City is the hometown of Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro, and the Daruma wearing the Kabuki Kumadori makeup is the city’s iconic Daruma.

The masu was a small square wooden box used to measure out rice in ancient times. Nowadays, masu made of hinoki (cedar) are predominantly used for drinking Japanese sake. This is a commemorative edition for the Narita Sake Festival.

A tokkuri is a traditional Japanese sake bottle. On the eve of the crusade against Akagaki Genzo, a character in the famous Kabuki play Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Vassals), he and his family drank from this type of tokkuri, so the bottle came to be known as Genzo Tokkuri.