A Century After Taiwan Became Japanese

When China lost the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Ching court ceded Taiwan to Japan. That was a century ago.

During the 50 years of the Japanese occupation, Taiwan would meet a fate far different from that of its motherland China. "If you change parents, you've got to rely on the new ones to eat." For the helpless Taiwanese, this was the truest and most practical philosophy of survival.

In the 50 years since retrocession, Taiwanese and mainlanders--amid blood and tears, in conflict and in cooperation--have lived together and intermingled. Intentionally overlooking the history of the Japanese occupation has only made both's quest for truth more difficult.

After 100 years, the veil should be taken off this forbidden topic so that the Japanese occupation of Taiwan can be fully understood. Leaving more academic topics to the scholars, we trace the stories of a variety of influential people of the era.

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(photo courtesy of Yeh Yun-yu)