I went to Taiwan for pre-research from June 5th (Friday) to June 9th (Tuesday). It was partly to plan for my Taipei residency starting in September and to work on new projects. Today is June 10th.
Kansai Airport to Taoyuan International Airport. The flight took about 3 hours. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this dogpi.
KAPANPUN.
When I arrived in Taipei, there was a group of motorbikes.
but we might look like ‘Asian’,
asking who is what
I’m on a bus, everyone with Asian features, heading towards the terminal.
The MRT is like an aquarium, with about four different languages spoken outside.
全機包膜・行動電源・各式耳機. Interesting way to verbalize.
Checked-in airbnb.
After that, I went to the National Taiwan Library. There was a plaza in front of the library, and an old man was having a solo karaoke session there. I recorded the sound as well. I acted as if I wouldn’t get caught.
When I tried to search the catalog inside the National Library of Taiwan, I realized the keyboard was in the Taiwanese Mandarin layout. I couldn’t type, and I didn’t understand it! It felt like my brain was operating at a different OS. Not knowing what to do, I showed the librarian my phone screen and asked, “Do you have this book?” They told me it was on the 6th floor.
If you’re on the 6th floor, someone will probably speak to you in Chinese. When I didn’t understand and asked them to repeat it in English, they said something like, “It’s 対面 the window,” and I wanted to record it!
What I read;
・陳昭如『Call in!! 地下電台：台灣新傳播文化的震撼與迷思』(台北市：日臻出版社，1994年) Detail is here. I couldn’t find it in the actual bookstore after all…
・井川充雄『台湾ラジオ資料集』。It contains old newspapers like the Radio Times. It also includes program schedules and frequency lists. I took pictures of it, so I want to read the contents more carefully later.
It was raining heavily. It was raining heavily the whole time, and the humidity was as high as during the rainy season.
After that, I went to the women’s bookstore in my rain-soaked shoes. 女書店. Nyuishūdian. I didn’t understand the meaning of the phrase “同言同語” written on the shelf, so I asked. I asked, but I didn’t really dissolve it.
I went to 林森北路（Linsen North Road）. The curator recommended it. He said it was “a drinking district for Japanese people, where Japanese businessmen stationed or on business trips flock to drink.” I went to “Marusake 圓酒（まるさけ）.” The owner is supposedly a resident of Taiwan for over 20 years, and I wanted to talk to him, but he wasn’t there. Unexpectedly, I ended up drinking alone. The beer went down easily. I ate fried noodles and fried chicken. End of day one.