For the first time in five years, Rti visited the listeners’ “Tamayama Club” in Tokyo, Japan, this Sunday. The delegation was warmly welcomed for their first visit since the pandemic despite Typhoon Shanshan causing havoc in several parts of Japan over the past week.
The Rti delegation of three included Rti’s President Chang Jui-Chang (張瑞昌), board member Liu Hsia-ju (劉夏如), and International Language Division Manager Carlson Huang (黃佳山).
Rti President Chang Jui-Chang presents a book to Takashi Tani.
Chang presented the book “Memories of Shiquan Han” to listeners’ club President Takashi Tani. Tani flew to Taiwan to attend Rti’s 95th anniversary celebration last year despite still recuperating from two surgeries earlier in the year.
Another listener present at the event, surnamed Yamada, has been listening to Rti for 64 years, since he was 12 years old. Yamada brought his wife, daughters, and grandson to the event, stating that the whole family listens to Rti. He says his children grew up listening to Rti’s Japanese programs, and his eldest daughter is a big fan of the Taiwanese convenience store mascot OPEN-chan.
Rti has three listeners’ clubs in Japan: the “Tamayama Club” in Tokyo, “Tamayama Association” in Osaka, and “Kyushu Listener Association” in Fukuoka. Osaka’s Kyushu Listener Association has been holding annual listener meetings for over 40 years, even during the coronavirus pandemic. Rti is perhaps the only overseas Japanese radio station that has enjoyed such uninterrupted listener support.
Rti President Chang Jui-Chang speaks at the event.
In his speech, Chang underscored the importance of listeners, stating that they are the life of radio stations, and without their enthusiastic feedback, stations would be but soulless shells. He also expressed his interest in regularly returning to Japan to further strengthen Rti’s relationship with its listeners’ clubs.