“Love forever, happiness forever”. Hexing “Love” Station in Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County, and the Hiroo Line’s Kofuku “Happiness” Station in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, Japan, held a ceremony to officially twin the two stations on October 22. Soga Akio, the president of the Tokachi Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association, who represented and signed as Japanese side. Lu Li-zhan, Managing Supervisor of the Hsinchu Industrial Association, signed for Hsinchu County. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Hsinchu County Magistrate Chiu Ching-chun, Obihiro City Mayor Yonezawa Norihisa, and Section Chief Gu Shi-yan of Taiwan Railways Administration’s Taipei Transportation Section. The installation art work Love Forever, Happiness Forever was also placed at Hexing Station, on the one hand representing love and, on the other, happiness. The joined hands of the work symbolize the determination of the two sides to fulfill their promise, and will make people to be obsessed with love.
Magistrate Chiu said that he hopes the agreement can promote the cultures and increase relationship. He presented Mayor Yonezawa Norihisa with the Love sculpture made by master sculptor Lin Jian-cheng, the work symbolizing the enduring friendship of Taiwan-Japan. Yonezawa Norihisa said that like Kofuku Happiness Station, Hexing Station’s love story can give people hopes and happiness. He hopes that the twinning between two stations will promote Taiwan-Japan’s friendship and exchange.
Decommissioned in 1987, Kofuku Station in Obihiro City gets its name “Happiness Station” from the place it is located, Kofuku which means “happiness” in Japan. The waiting room, platform and part of the tracks have been retained and two train carriages are on display. The shops around the station sell commemorative tickets and station’s creative products, and it has become a popular tourism. Hexing Station on the Neiwan Branch Line also faced closure at one time. It was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Zeng Chun-zhao, a couple who experienced a wonderful love story at the station, and now it become as “Love Station.”
On the day of the ceremony, the “Happy Love Concert” was held at Hexing Station, with an anime figures parade, a romantic picnic and other activities. Many people attended the ceremony, sat on the ground and enjoyed the performances on stage with the pleasant atmosphere in Love Station.