TOKYO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Paraguay's new ambassador to Japan, Isao Taoka, is returning to his former home country after nearly half a century of hardship, endurance and achievements.
The 61-year-old Taoka, originally from Tokushima prefecture in western Japan, is the first first-generation Japanese emigrant to return as an ambassador.
Taoka accompanied his parents to Paraguay in 1958, when he was 14 years old. They began life in the new country by clearing the jungle for farmland. Unable to endure the extreme hardship, about 70 percent of their fellow immigrants left Paraguay.
When he was 43, Taoka was elected mayor of the city of La Paz. Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte praised him for raising the average income of city residents to become the highest in the nation.
Taoka said he is eager to form a bridge between the two countries, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.
