TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) welcomed a delegation from Nikko City, Japan, on Tuesday and said a road in Yongkang District had been named Nikko Street to mark 17 years of friendship.
Led by Nikko Mayor Setaka Tetsuo and Nikko City Council Chair Wada Kiminobu, the 64-person delegation visited Tainan for tourism and civic exchanges. Huang welcomed the group and thanked Nikko for working with Tainan on a tourism discount program, saying the visit showed the close ties built since the cities became friendship cities in 2009.
CNA reported that the program gives Tainan residents ticket discounts at two Nikko attractions, Ashio Copper Mine and Heike no Sato. Huang said he hoped the program would encourage more people from both cities to visit each other.
Huang said Tainan named the Yongkang District road Nikko Street to mark 17 years since the two cities became friendship cities. He gave Setaka a copy of the official approval document as a souvenir.
Huang said he hoped Tainan and Nikko would expand exchanges in sports, education, and culture. He said the two cities could build stronger ties through more cooperation.
Setaka said he had looked forward to visiting Tainan after meeting Huang in Japan in March. He also thanked Tainan for sending a 300-person tour group to Nikko after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami hurt the city’s tourism industry, per Liberty Times.
Setaka expressed concern over damage caused by Typhoon Danas in Tainan in 2025. He said the Nikko group visited Tainan to support the city through tourism and local exchanges.
Nikko is in northwest Tochigi Prefecture and is known for Toshogu Shrine, Kinugawa Onsen, and Nikko Cedar Avenue. The delegation visited Fort Zeelandia and Anping Tree House on Tuesday afternoon to learn about Tainan’s history and culture.
