Taiwan's DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen has left for Japan on a trip aimed at building political and business ties, a sign of Taipei's deepening outreach to Tokyo.

• Shen flew out of Songshan Airport with three goals: parliament-to-parliament diplomacy, city diplomacy, and setting up a Japanese support group.
• As a member of the legislature's foreign affairs and defense committee, he plans to keep up direct contact with Japanese lawmakers.
• For the mayoral race, he wants to study how Japan handles urban redevelopment and sports policy and bring those ideas back to Taipei.
• The support group matters most to him: overseas Taiwanese in Japanese industries could become a business bridge for Taipei, as happened after a similar US trip.
• He also hit back at current mayor Chiang Wan-an, saying residents raising complaints about city trees or child abuse should not be labeled as political opponents.

Outlook: Shen holds a youth forum and official meetings before returning home, with any meetings with Japanese officials to be disclosed only once both sides agree.