Several experts from Japan recently visited Taiwan to share their experiences in community restructuring with local groups, in the hope of helping the Taiwanese society to achieve an ideal balance between industrial development and cultural preservation.

A group of community scholars in Japan were invited by Institute of Historical Resources Management of Taiwan to visit the country and share with local communities the lateste development and concepts of community restructuring in Japan.

One of the Japanese visitors is an important force behind the success of Hida Furukawa, the famous community restructuring example in Japan.

The Japanese expert explained the spirit of promoting community restructuring, adding that after experiencing high economic growth, the country's young people would rather live in their hometown instead of big cities and hope to find their place in the community they are from.

After the two-day workshop on safeguarding the hometown, Chiu Ru-hua, who was responsible for inviting the Japanese visitors, said that protecting our hometown is an urgent task for the country.

The teacher also thanked the help from these Japanese community building scholars, whose experience of creating a quality lifestyle in local communities and attracting tourists may provide a different perspective to Taiwan, which has long emphasized industrial development.