Exhibit on 2011 Japan quake to be held in Taiwan on 10th anniversary

Taipei, March 1 (CNA) An exhibition and other events will be held in Taipei later this month to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed some 16,000 people in Japan, the country's representative office in Taiwan said Monday.

The March 10-21 exhibition will feature then-and-now photographs, showing scenes immediately after the disaster in the northeast of the country and what those areas look like now, according to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA).

It will also display signature boards, signed by Japanese comic artists, expressing gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the JTEA said in a press release.

In a special section of the exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, a display of books about the disaster, by Taiwanese and Japanese writers, will highlight the friendly ties between the two countries, the JTEA said.

Other commemorative events in Taipei will include a fair and music festival March 13-14 at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park plaza, according to the press release. The festival will feature traditional Japanese instruments such as Taiko percussion and the shamisen, a three-stringed lute.

A punk rock band from Kaohsiung Fire EX, winner of the best band prize at the 2020 Golden Melody Awards, will be among the featured performers at the festival, while Taiwan-based Japanese YouTuber Mihara Keigo will also participate, the JTEA said.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, claiming nearly 20,000 lives, causing a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and resulting in losses of billions of U.S. dollars in the Japanese economy.

In the aftermath of the disaster, Taiwan's government and private sector donated a total of 25 billion yen (US$239.58 million) in relief aid and sent search and rescue teams to Japan, earning Japan's eternal gratitude, according to the JTEA.