Tokomitsu Shinsei, general manager of the Japanese-owned Kagaya Beitou Hotel and the director of the Taiwan affairs office of the Mr. and Mrs. Yoichi Hatta Memorial Foundation and Taiwan Friendship Association, explains that the association has no connections with President Ma. That Ma would come to pay his respects on his own initiative greatly moved the Japanese people, and all of the major Japanese media outlets covered it.
多年前受八田精神感召，而發願致力於台日交流、擔任「思慕八田技師伉儷和台灣友好親善會」台灣事務所所長的日商加賀屋溫泉飯店總經理德光信誠表示，他們和馬英九總統素無淵源，今年馬總統竟親自前來悼念，十分令日本人感動，日本各大媒體都做了報導。