Japan has conferred its prestigious Order of the Rising Sun on Tsai Kun-lin, a victim of persecution during Taiwan’s period under martial law and founder of a magazine that introduced Taiwan to the latest Japanese manga.
During Taiwan’s “White Terror” period, Tsai was tortured into confessing that he had joined an illegal reading society and handed out pro-communist leaflets. He spent more than a decade imprisoned on Green Island, an island notorious for housing political prisoners.
In 1966, Tsai founded “Prince Semi-Weekly”, a magazine that published Japanese manga and children’s literature translated into Chinese. The magazine also published works by Taiwanese artists and authors done in a Japanese style. The magazine was an important window through which Japanese culture was disseminated into Taiwan during an era of strict censorship.
Japan’s representative to Taiwan, Izumi Hiroyasu, personally conferred the award on Tsai during a ceremony Wednesday. Tsai said he is especially grateful to have received the honor as Taiwan thanks Japan for its donations of COVID-19 vaccine doses.