Continuing form the last post, I’ll share my trip to Taiwan with you all. The theme of this vacation was to enjoy railways in Taiwan which were constructed with the support of Japanese railway technology thoroughly. My friend and I even took a mountain train which climb up a high mountain slowly. The view form the mountain train was just so awesome. I could see oolong tea farm and Jack Fruit forests and thousands of palm trees from the window. Very tropical indeed.

台湾旅行記の続きです。今回の旅のテーマは、台湾にて日本の技術で作られた鉄道をディープに味わうというものだったので、ゆっくりゆっくりと2000メートル級の山を登る阿里山森林鐡路を行きました。登山列車に乗ったのは初めての経験で、外に広がる烏龍茶畑やジャックフルーツの森、椰子の木々に南国気分が高まります。

Got off the train and we had station bento. Station bento is Japanese culture and I was so glad that the influence thrive  in Taiwan also.

奮起湖で下車して、評判の駅弁（日本文化の名残がここにも）を食しました。

A young girl clerk at the bento shop was so good at Japanese and I told her, “You are so cute!=Kawaii ne!”. And she was so glad to hear that and gave me a big smile. The Japanese word Kawaii=cute is getting universal. I met many youngsters who could speak Japanese well. It seems to learn Japanese is a hot thing in Taiwan also.

日本語が上手なお店のお姉さんに「お姉さん、可愛いね！」などとナンパ師のようなことを言うワタクシ。するととても喜んでくれて、やはり「可愛い」って最強ですね。この旅で実感したのは、若い世代の間でも日本語学習熱が非常に高いということです。

I heard Taiwanese love Japan so much and if they have a logo of “Japan Style”, the products sell so well. The tea that I bought at a station had that “Japan Style” logo also. But the taste was just so so…

日式＝日本風の、とすればモノがよく売れるそうで、駅の売店で買った緑茶は日式でしたが味はイマイチ。

My father used to work for a railway company for more than 40 years and maybe that’s because I felt so nostalgic when I visited stations in Taiwan.

私の父は鉄道マンの所謂プロ鉄だったので、私の中にも鉄子の血が流れているのか、国鉄時代の技術を持って行って作った台南駅が私の中ではホットスポットでした。

Platform, station building, and even digital signs, they were all so nostalgic. Because nowadays railway stations in Japan are getting so modern and the good old style stations are so hard to find. Things are kept on updated with the cycle of metabolism and they never go backward. However, I was so happy to come across good old Japan in a faraway place of Taiwan. And the good old Japan is preserved so beautifully. I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity to visit Taiwan this summer. That’s all for today. Blessings to each one of you!

プラットホームも、駅舎も、電光掲示板も、その全てが懐かしく心地よかった。モノゴトは新陳代謝を繰り返して先へ先へと進んでゆくけれど、遠い異国では在りし日の日本の姿が美しく保たれている。そういうものに出会えたことを感謝したいと思います。では、また！みなさんに沢山の祝福がありますように！