News--Department of Food Science & Graduate Institute of Food Science

The Muen Foundation presented 30 saplings of Japanese Prunus “Yoko” to National Chiayi University as gifts. A growing ceremony of Japanese Prunus “Yoko” saplings kicked off at the Kano Baseball Memorial Park on the Lantan campus, NCYU, on Dec. 8th at 10 a.m. It was attended by NCYU President Chiou Yi-Yuan and a list of guests of honor including Zhuang Guo-Qin and Zhuang-Qiu Shu-Hui, founder and chairperson of Muen Foundation, Lee Shek-June, deputy Chiayi mayor, Ho Mei-Yueh, former Minister of Economic Affairs, and 60 members from the Japan Sakura Interchange Association. Also taking place is an unveiling ceremony of Hyotaro Kondo and Su Cheng-Sheng – The Unbreakable Bond Between Coach and Player Sculptures, donated by NCYU alumni.

　　In his address, NCYU President Chiou expressed his gratitude to the Muen Foundation for presenting 30 saplings of Japanese Prunus “Yoko” donated by the Japan Sakura Interchange Association. He also thanked NCYU alumnus Shen Rong-Lu and his wife for donating the sculpture of Su Cheng-Sheng, and the other six alumni, including Huang Hsin-Zhang, Zhang Jian-Jin, Lin Hong-Ru, Yan Zhen-Feng, Zheng Wen-Hua, and Guan Yi-Cheng, for donating the sculpture of Coach Hyotaro Kondo. The addition of both sculptures enriches the meaning of the Kano Baseball Memorial Park at NCYU.

　　In addition, planting trees is helpful in regulating the climate, and maintaining the ecological environment especially in the face of worsening global warming. The blossoming of the Prunus “Yoko” is expected to beautify the campus environment and enhance the development of tourism industry in Chiayi.

　　Prunus “Yoko” is a variety of cherry blossoms developed by Masaaki Takaoka, a teacher from a mountainside elementary school located in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, in memory of enlisted students who died in WWII. According to Muen Foundation Founder Zhuang Guo-Qin, he was deeply touched by the story of how Mr. Masaaki developed the Prunus “Yoko” to commemorate his students who sacrificed themselves during the war when watching TV one spring day last year. He searched online and found the Japan Sakura Interchange Association, with whom the tree-giving project was conceived. Today, he was glad and honored to plant the Prunus “Yoko,” never seen before in Taiwan, on the campus of NCYU. He believed one day the baseball memorial park will be covered with cherry blossoms under the care of the professional team in NCYU.

　　NCYU alumnus Shen Rong-Lu was thankful to President Chiou for informing him of a project to setting up sculptures at the baseball memorial park so that he could sponsor in constructing the sculpture of Su Cheng-Sheng, one of the best hitters in the baseball history of Taiwan. It was a honor to be part of the Kano family. He has cultivated a passion for baseball since childhood, when baseball reached its highest popularity in Taiwan. Once a fast-paced baseball player who excelled both as a center fielder and hitter, he considered it his destiny to contribute a part in the project. He hoped the Kano spirit and its story of joining the Japan Koshien games embodied by the baseball memorial park would inspire and encourage young students and inject positive energy into the society.

　　Founded in April, 1928, the Kano baseball team was originally one of the extracurricular student clubs of National Chia-yi Institute of Agriculture. Under the coaching of Hyotaro Kondo for only four years, the team defeated contestants from all around Taiwan in numerous baseball events. It even participated in the Japan Koshien games, thus feted as the “the Unequaled Kano.” All these bore witness to the fact that Kondo was a prestigious teacher expert in the art of discovering talented people from diverse domains.

　　Su Cheng-Sheng was one of the earliest players of the Kano baseball team. In his second battle in the Koshien games, then against Hokkai Gakuen Sapporo High School, Su hit a triple at the left corner of the outfield fence. It came as a bombshell to the baseball world in Japan, contributing to the birth of the Kano baseball legend.

　　According to the university, the Hyotaro Kondo and Su Cheng-Sheng – The Unbreakable Bond Between Coach and Player Sculptures at the baseball memorial park were set up in commemoration of the glorious achievements in the history of NCYU. They also hoped that the spirit of the Kano baseball team – down-to-earth, hardworking and eager to win – would introduce young students to the importance of teamwork, diligence and confidence.

Source:NCYU