Taiwan has always been a second home and a place I love dearly for its heartful people, rich and diversified culture, stunning nature and of course it’s awesome gastronomic culture. This is Papersky’s third Taiwan issue! The first, featured chef Masayo Funakoshi and Taiwanese ‘Cooking’ (2015). The next spotlighted outdoor brand, Yamatomichi’s, Akira Natsume as we hiked & biked our hearts out while exploring the islands dynamic outdoor field with a ‘Hike & Bike’ trip (2019). This issue our theme is ‘Tea in the Park’ and our guest is young artist-calligrapher Daichiro Shinjo. Join us for a walk around Taipei as we sip tea under Banyan, Cypress and Rain Trees in the city’s local parks while enjoying conversations with Taiwanese artists. But first I would like to share a true story as to how this issue came to light.
While working on a Papersky Store pop up shop in Taipei I had the good fortune to catch a bit of Corona. I know most people would be bummed out or even terrified to catch Corona in a home away from home. But in Taiwan my friends as well as the Taiwanese government took great care of me. My hospital, hotel and food expenses were covered, and I was fortunate to be able to stay an extra five days in a country I love. The slow time, kind care and great Taiwanese food gave me time to think about what made Taiwan such a special place. I came up with these key words: PARKS, ART & CALIGRAPHY and TEA.
Then with my Corona down time I began to think through how I may be able to put these Key Words together to create a Papersky feature story. The answer came to me while looking out the window of my room. I saw in the park a stunningly beautiful Banyan trees. I thought to myself, with a remaining three more days of isolation, what I would like to do once I left my room. I imagined myself taking a trip to a local Tea Stand and with tea and some black Taiwanese peanuts in hand heading to the park and sitting on a bench. I continued to daydream – and thought who I would like to have sit next to me on the bench. I wanted to ask my imaginary friend about the current state of Taiwan, Tea, Plants, Art and the Future. I thought if the person was an artist, they would be able to shed some light on these topics that to me were so TAIWANESE. And thus our ‘Tea in the Park’ edition was born, and a daydream once again brought to life.
