Yoshifumi Katakura, Japan's "Taiwan-ist"

For Japanese tourists who want to get an in-depth look at Taiwan, Yoshifumi Katakura is a well-known name. A longtime resident of Taiwan and widely published author, aside from writing travel guides for Japanese publishing houses, he also operates the "Taiwan Tokuso" website (」（http://katakura.net), which offers extensive information on "nostalgia tourism" in Taiwan. Since its launch in 2000, the site has had over 200,000 hits, becoming a place for many Japanese tourists to do their homework before traveling to Taiwan.

Katakura is particularly interested in the history of architecture, Aboriginal peoples, and railroads during the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan. His works have been translated into Chinese and published in Taiwan, bringing together the results of six or seven years of travel to every corner of Taiwan to find even the most obscure traces of the period of Japanese rule.

Born in 1969, Katakura is a stout, bespectacled man with an enthusiastic personality, and a graduate of Waseda University's Department of Education. An avid traveler, he visited over 40 countries while he was still in college, but it was not until 1993 that he came to Taiwan for the first time--but only to change planes. Katakura admits that Taiwan did not make much of an impression on him at first, but as he made more visits, he discovered the country's deep, hidden magic.

Katakura went into the publishing business after college, and soon found that the stressful pressures of working life were completely different from his time in college, when he was free to travel the world. With a desire to "keep learning about this world of ours," he quit his job and moved to Taiwan in 1996, hoping to make a living as a freelance writer and to have more time to explore the island that so fascinated him.

When he arrived in Taiwan, Katakura spoke no Chinese at all, but still needed to start making money by writing for Japanese publications. Since he had a special interest in history, and because many well-known older people who had lived through the period of Japanese rule can speak Japanese, he decided to put his efforts into writing about the history of that period, even though he himself had no wartime experience. As he was doing this work, he gradually became fluent in Chinese, too.

In Japan, opinions about Japanese rule in Taiwan vary widely. The left wing of the political spectrum tends to completely condemn Japan's actions, while people on the right often cast those same events in a totally positive light. Katakura has distanced himself from these loaded debates; he says jokingly, "I am neither leftist nor rightist. If you want to put a label on me, then say I'm 'Taiwan-ist!'"

Katakura believes that colonial rule is certainly not something to be celebrated, but his explorations are not intended to establish historical rights and wrongs. Rather, he hopes to find a way back to the people's perspective on things, to understand the relationship over the years between these historical sites and everyday people.

For example, the colonial government built a large number of jinja, or Shinto shrines, as a way to assimilate and draw in Taiwan people. When World War II ended in 1945 and the ROC government moved to Taiwan, these structures were either torn down or converted into military martyrs' shrines. Because of this, the vestiges that remain of these shrines can show historical traces of changes in political power.

Beyond his work on the history of Taiwan under Japanese rule, Katakura is also a true "railroad fanatic." Like the lead male character played by Tadanobu Asano in Hou Hsiao-hsien's Cafe Lumiere, Katakura always carries a tape recorder with him, recording the sounds of trains all over Taiwan and listening to them over and over again at home like a true connoisseur. It might be hard for many people to understand what is so interesting about these sounds, but they are truly moving to fans of trains and trolleys.

According to Katakura, the favorite Taiwanese trains of many Japanese railroad buffs are those of the narrow-gauge Alishan Mountain Railway. These trains, which use Shay steam locomotives to climb up the steep mountain tracks, are a rarity anywhere in the world. Katakura says that as the trip up the mountain varies between flat and steep stretches of track, "the sounds are like they are coming from a living animal, going up and down, always overcoming obstacles. It moves me deeply whenever I hear it!"

After nine years in Taiwan, Katakura is truly a "Taiwan hand." When asked what sights he would most recommend to Japanese tourists, he says that his favorites are the northern Fujianese buildings at Peikan on Matsu Island, the south sea atmosphere found in Chishan and Meinung, and the spectacular views from the Southern Cross-Island Highway. After writing so many travel guides, he sincerely hopes that Japanese visitors don't just limit themselves to Taipei: "There are so many other great places in Taiwan, just waiting for people to go there!"