Old folk's wishes
The ROC Tourism Bureau, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, sees these lunches as a great boon, bringing into Taiwan still more Japanese tourists. The Japanese already make up the largest single group of tourists coming to Taiwan at just over 37% of the total, so in February this year Taiwan Rail lunches were included as part of a project to increase tourist figures. Each Japanese tour group that came to Taiwan and took a rail tour was given Nostalgia Lunches in stainless steel boxes. Thanks to this, Japanese lovers of Taiwanese food have flocked to the island.
This August, a guide with a group of about a dozen elderly Japanese tourists came to sightsee in Taiwan. As well as coming to visit various famous historical sites, another major part of their visit was the railway, during the course of their journey along which they were to try the Taiwan Rail lunches. Sugino Yoshiko, a 60-plus member of this group, gave a happy sigh at the thought of being able to try one of the fragrant lunches while on the train. Last time they were selling the Taiwan Rail biandang in Japan, said Sugino, she saw a report on them on the TV, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to try any. "Finally, I get to fulfill that desire."
Sugino also revealed that when she was younger she visited Taiwan and tried one of the Taiwan Rail pork lunches, which left a deep impression on her. Now that she's visiting again in her old age, she intends to relive that experience once more. There are many other Japanese visitors like Mrs. Sugino, who have loved rail journeys ever since childhood, and who love taking these train tours.
With 21 years in charge of the railway meals, Chen Ching-piao sees several differences between Taiwan's lunches and Japan's. In Taiwan, the lunches are generally hot meals, while in Japan they're cold. Also, the pork in Taiwan's meals is first deep fried, then stewed in soy sauce, as compared to Japan's with their more tender, fresher taste and more appetizing smell.
But Chen also notes that not only are the lunches offered by Japan Rail more famous, they also have a massive variety. At one exhibition of railway lunches there were 180 different regional lunches on display, an unbelievable sight. The lunches on display used local specialty ingredients, meaning that it was possible to tell what area any given lunch was from at a glance. This is the greatest strength of the Japanese lunches-and for passengers who want a new experience each time, it is a great attraction.
Having tried all kinds of domestic and foreign railway lunches, Taiwan Railway Culture Association administrative director Hsieh Ming-hsun says that of all the foreign railway lunches available, he considers Japan's to be the best. They're also often tied in with the special features of the local area-for example, seaside stations offer seafood lunches. Also, the lunch boxes come in all sorts of different designs, from cane baskets to ceramic boxes. When he visited Japan, he brought back several extraordinary lunch boxes as souvenirs. He believes that Taiwan's boxed lunches are too boring: they lack any kind of local flavor, and have a lot of room for future improvement.
Chen Ching-piao, head of the TRA's Catering Services Division, shown here holding one of their lunchboxes, says proudly: "This 'old-time flavor' just seems to have garnered undying devotion from our travelers."