Kobayashi Takada hopes to
reside in Taichung
permanently.

Kobayashi's Taichung
restaurant has done very
good business over the past
few year.

During his days off, Mr.
Kobayashi (pictured in center)
likes to join his friends for a
game of golf.

Mr. Kobayashi (second row,
3rd from left) has an amiable
personality, and friends like to
hang out with him at his
restaurant.

The ubiquitous beauty of Taichung

Words by Kobayashi Takada
Chinese translated by Chen Wen-xu
English translated by Ann Lee

Born in Kushiro City on Hokkaido, Japan, Mr. Kobayashi Takada opened his Japanese restaurant in Taichung eight years ago, offering authentic Japanese-style hot pots and an array of traditional Japanese dishes to his customers. Over the years since then, his successful business has attracted a large number of patrons. In the following article, he offers perspectives on his life in Taichung.

Personally, I really do enjoy this city. Typhoons rarely do great damage to Taichung and the mild climate allows the city to enjoy sunny weather most of the year, not to mention how friendly the locals are. It is truly an ideal place for long-term residence, a colorful and happy city.

There is only one thing about living in Taichung that makes me feel a little less than comfortable, though, and that is the number of motorcycles on the streets. Motorcycles make the air quality suffer and when the night comes you can hardly see stars in the sky, which is really a shame. Hopefully, the Taichung MRT system will be finished as soon as possible, so that the air quality can improve and we can begin to see stars in the sky.

Taichung at night is also a happy place to be. I like to stroll down the night market and am quite astonished by how crowded it gets as people go shopping there. The variety of things you can buy at the night market is quite shocking; there you can see people selling all types of household accessories, food and clothing. That's why I find that it's pleasant to just take it all in with my eyes, without buying anything!

In Taiwan, there are lots of fruits that we Japanese are familiar with, and I often buy them. This includes Taiwanese bananas, which are cheap and tasty. Or the watermelons and mangoes in the summer, which I also buy a lot of. Compared to what we get in Japan, Taiwanese fruit is much sweeter! The persimmons and cantaloupes in the fall, or the strawberries and guavas in the winter, you name it, the variety of fruit in Taiwan is truly abundant! It makes me want to enjoy them every single day.

When the weekend arrives, I like to visit the nearest golf course and play a round with my Taiwanese and Japanese friends. The surrounding greenery makes me feel really at ease and, no matter how well I do in the game, I can enjoy a sense of relief from my week of pressure, which also helps me face new challenges at work the next day. That is also why you will see a group gathering at my "Fuji" restaurant every month--they all belong to the same golf club and this gives me the chance to have some good times with my friends.

Taichung is truly a great city but, unfortunately, due to the global economic downturn, some of my Japanese friends who worked here have already returned back to Japan. This situation is still ongoing, which makes me feel a bit lonely.

I hope the economic situation improves, so that my Japanese friends can again return to Taichung. No matter what happens, I want to reside in Taichung forever. The most important thing is for everyone to get along and be able to share great moments together.

In conclusion, I want to say, "Thank you Taichung!"