Attention, Kaohsiung residents！Kumamon makes an appearance

▲ Japan’s most popular cute bear KUMAMON serves as a one-day tourism ambassador. (Photo / Provided by Kaohsiung City Government)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

The Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau will host a meet-and-greet event at 11:00 AM on March 23 at the Waterfront Plaza of Shoushan Zoo, where the zoo’s star mascot Super Animal will meet Japan’s super-popular Kumamoto Prefecture mascot KUMAMON. They’ll dance together to promote animal adoption and conservation awareness.

Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau Director Hsu Chuan-sheng said that Japanese tourists are the second-largest visitor group to Taiwan. This Kumamoto Prefecture exchange event also includes a scenic and food tour in Kaohsiung specially arranged for Japanese industry professionals and media, and features Japan’s most popular mascot KUMAMON as a guest Kaohsiung tourism ambassador, helping to bring beautiful impressions of Kaohsiung’s sights, food, and travel experiences back to Japan.

At the March 23 event meet-and-greet, the animal character troupe Super Animal from Shoushan Zoo—“Big White Tiger” and “Super Animal”—will welcome KUMAMON as local hosts by handing out candy and joyfully greeting his arrival together with the public; KUMAMON will lead fans in demonstrating the cutest “KUMAMON Fitness Workout,” shaking hips and dancing happily with both children and adults, while also holding a “KUMAMON Handshake Session” where everyone can shake hands and take photos with KUMAMON！

Additionally, the Tourism Bureau has selected a Dajiaoshan Longan Honey gift basket to welcome KUMAMON, and dressed him in a “Friend of Kaohsiung Shoushan Zoo” sash, symbolizing the friendly bond between Japan’s “Bear”-mon Prefecture and Taiwan’s high “Prosperity” City; Shoushan Zoo will also present KUMAMON with an “Animal Adoption Card” to jointly promote the animal adoption campaign and conservation message.

In recent years, Kumamoto Prefecture has been actively developing its solar photovoltaic industry, with residential solar power usage ranking second in Japan. Sharing Kaohsiung’s vision of becoming a “green livable city,” Kumamoto and Kaohsiung are sister cities. Together with the Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau and Fokang Travel Agency, they facilitated direct charter flights between the two places to boost tourism development. In June this year, China Airlines will also launch regular chartered flights between Kumamoto and Kaohsiung.
Hsu Chuan-sheng said that Kumamoto Prefecture’s visit this time is mainly to familiarize themselves with Kaohsiung’s attractions. In addition to promoting local tourism, Japan’s most popular mascot KUMAMON will also serve as a one-day Kaohsiung tourism ambassador, introducing more Japanese tourists to Kaohsiung’s cultural characteristics, landscapes, performance arts, and local cuisine！

During this 4-day, 3-night friendship tour, KUMAMON will visit must-see spots for Japanese visitors to Kaohsiung such as Lotus Pond, the currently trendy wedding photo spot Lover’s Viewpoint, the site of Kaohsiung’s first railway station built by the Japanese — the Takao Railway Story Museum, Taiwan’s best-preserved traditional Japanese building — the Martial Arts Hall, the Qiaotou Shigu Cultural Park which shares materials and structure with Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera Temple, as well as the hometowns of bananas — Qishan and Meinong.

%Mother 咝郾赜尉暗懔?靥丁＃ㄍ迹?咝凼姓??峁?┘/strong>