TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –     Taichung will be linked by direct flights to the Central Japanese city of Tottori beginning September, following a visit by Japanese politicians from the region, reports said Tuesday (August 13).

The two cities already signed tourism exchange and friendship agreements in 2017 and 2018, the Central News Agency reported.

During a visit by the speaker of the Tottori Prefecture council to his counterpart in Taichung Tuesday, the plan was announced to improve the relationship between the two regions even further by launching direct flights from September.

According to the Japanese official, the friendship started with the import of Japanese pears from Tottori by then-Taichung County as far as 25 years ago.

Next February, a group of at least 100 Japanese would visit Taichung for its Lantern Festival show, while the speaker also invited his counterpart from Taichung to take part in the Great Earth Tottori Sugoi bicycle ride this October.