Paratexts and Annotations

Table of Contents

Annotations

• “Ambassador Tarui”: The award medal was presented to Mr. Theodore Shih-Song Cheng by Mr. Sumio Tarui, the representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange association – the unofficial embassy of Japan in Taiwan. Mr. Tarui was the head of the association and representative of the Taipei office. He represented the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Japanese Government on behalf of the Emperor of Japan to award Mr. Cheng’s contributions and efforts in enhancing the communication between the two nations over the recent years.
• “The Exchange Association”: Taiwan, otherwise known as the Republic of China (R.O.C), had an official diplomatic relationship with Japan until September 1972 when the People Republic of China, known as mainland China, became the only official, diplomatic representation of China. In attempts to preserve the relationships of Japan and Taiwan, the Japanese Government established the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (Chinese:日本台灣交流協會) in December 1972.
• Japan’s largest earthquake: On March 11^th 2013, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake, the largest to hit Japan, takes place to the northeast of Tokyo and causes a tsunami that crashed into the shores of coastal Japan. The waves of the tsunami engulfed and destroyed a reactor in the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant causing devastating nuclear chemical leak and meltdowns.
• Taiwan’s relationship with Japan after the 2013 Earthquake: Following the disaster, Taiwan donated over 20 billion yen to Japan, the largest sum of money any other country or region in the world donated to Japan after the earthquake. Despite not having official diplomatic relations, Taiwan and Japan have cultivated and continue to foster a close-knit, friendly bond between the two nations.
• Cheng’s contributions and relationship with Japan: Mr. Cheng was sent to the Tokyo as deputy manager of the Tokyo branch of the International Commercial Bank of China (now known as Mega Bank) in 1974, where he was further promoted to manager and later Vice President of the bank. He remained in Tokyo for 14 years through which he built strong relationships with people in the financial, governmental, and private sectors within Japan. In 1987, he returned to Taiwan and served as the President of the bank. He utilized his relationships established in Japan and continued to enhance the Taiwan-Japan relationship even after he had returned to Taiwan.
• Note on the materials used in this manuscript: This speech translation was written on hotel notepad paper from the Regent in Taipei, a hotel my family often dined in throughout my childhood. My grandfather had kindly translated his original speech into English for me when I spoke to him about the final project for this class. The informal use of hotel notepad paper, which was probably simply lying around the house when I called to speak with him, contributes to the warm, deep personal sentiment I feel toward my grandfather’s speech and his greater successes.