Led by Mr. Tashiya Hazama, the Mayor of Otaru City, Japan, a delegation from Otaru City including members from the Otaru Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association, Otaru Tourism Association, and Otaru Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited Tamsui on March 24 to promote Taiwan-Japan relations, expand cultural exchanges between the business circles of Taiwan and Japan, promote tourism after the pandemic, and share experiences of local revitalization. They were received by Ho-Ran Liu, the Deputy Mayor of New Taipei City, and Arthur Tsung-Jen Wu, the District Executive of Tamsui. Professor Rui-Mao Huang from the Department of Architecture and Assistant Professor Yu-Pei Ma from the Department of Mass Communication at our university, also members of Tamsui Good Days (TKU USR project), led students to participate in the exchange.

Otaru is located in the central region (Dohoku) of Hokkaido, Japan, and is one of the important ports and tourist cities in Japan. The delegation visited various places in the morning, including the Danhai LRT Seaside Line, Tamsui District Administration Center, Fort Santo Domingo, and the Miniature Museum of Historical Sites. Finally, they visited the old street, starting at our school's "Reconstruction Street No. 27 Tamsui Learning City Base – Outdoor Learning Workshop (野學坊)" service location. Dr. Rui-Mao Huang explained the attractions of Tamsui's old street to the delegation and gave each member a carefully designed selection basket, so that they could take away special Tamsui specialties at each stop and help promote future tourism business opportunities in Tamsui's commercial district.

Dr. Yu-Pei Ma explained that the selection baskets for this activity is a result of the advanced cooperation between our school and the Tamsui commercial area. Among the participating students, some will design and consider how to integrate the selection baskets into crowdfunding projects during the course, attempting to involve the public in the Tamsui selection basket journey and participate in innovative entrepreneurship competitions to develop new Tamsui characteristics. Pui Sze Fiona Yu, a graduate student from the Department of Mass Communication, shared that as a student from Hong Kong studying in Tamsui, this exchange with the Otaru delegation from Japan allowed her to better appreciate the close diplomatic relationship between Taiwan and Japan. Both the Otaru delegation and the participating students can discover more scenic spots, cultures, histories, and deeply feel the connections between local stores through exploring Tamsui together.