Taichung farmers meet again thanks to TV show
By Chang Husan-che and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Two elderly farmers who went on an agricultural technology exchange program in Japan 60 years ago were reunited yesterday after one of them made a chance appearance on television earlier this month.
Taichung men Chao Shih-tung (趙世通), aged 95, and Su Cheng-feng (蘇成峰), aged 89, were among the 10 elite tangerine farmers the then-Council of Agriculture selected to participate in the one-year program in Japan’s Ehime Prefecture.
Chao and Su, Taichung compatriots who respectively hailed from Dongshi (東勢) and Waipu (外埔), became inseparable friends during their stay in Japan, visiting Kagoshima in Kyushu during their free time.
Chao Shih-tung, left, and Su Cheng-feng, right, are pictured at a Kagoshima train station in Kyushu, Japan, in 1966.
Photo courtesy of Chao
Chao used the knowledge he aquired at the Chen Tung Tangerine Orchard to develop his own citrus-growing techniques, eventually becoming one of the nation’s foremost experts in citrus farming.
Su stayed in Waipu and continued to grow tangerines before transitioning to rice agriculture, which was more suited to the locality’s hydrographical conditions.
The two men drifted apart following their return, as they branched into different agricultural fields and began families.
Chao Shih-tung, left, and Su Cheng-feng, right, looks at an old photograph of their time in Japan as they reminisced in the Chen Tung Tangerine Orchard in Taichung yesterday.
Photo: Chang Husan-che, Taipei Times
On Oct. 7, Su’s daughter saw a human-interest story about Chao, in which the renowned tangerine farmer lamented losing touch with his best friend during their time in Japan.
Recognizing the shared history, she contacted Chen Tung Tangerine Orchard, which reconnected the old friends.
Su and Chao had a tearful reunion yesterday at the latter’s orchid, with their extended family in tow.
The duo shared their photographs from their time in Japan and promised to meet again.
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