Former Japanese Navy Fengshan Wireless Communications Station

The Former Japanese Navy Fengshan Wireless Communications Station (原日本海軍鳳山無線電信所) was constructed between 1917 and 1919 in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung, during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. It was the first large-scale wireless telecommunications facility built by the Imperial Japanese Navy in Taiwan, and one of three major long-wave radio stations established across the empire — the others being Funabashi near Tokyo and Hario in Sasebo, Kyushu.

The station's architectural design was modeled after the Funabashi station and features a distinctive double concentric circle layout, a rare and strategically significant configuration for radio transmission. The facility included reinforced concrete bunkers with blast-resistant doors and windows, deep earthen roof coverings for protection against aerial bombardment, guard towers, and a cross-shaped radio transmission building (十字電台) at its center. The fortified construction reflects the military importance placed on securing this vital communications link.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, the Fengshan station served as a critical relay point for Imperial Japanese Navy communications throughout the southwest Pacific theater. In 1937, it was consolidated with a second station at Sankaiseki into the Takao Communication Unit (高雄通信隊). The facility was used for tactical radio operations including signal jamming and monitoring of Allied naval and air movements, playing a key role in Japan's wartime intelligence network.

Following Japan's defeat in 1945, Taiwan came under Republic of China administration and the station was transferred to the ROC Navy. The facility was converted into the "Fengshan Reception Center" (鳳山招待所), which functioned as an interrogation and detention facility for political prisoners and suspected dissidents during the White Terror period (1949–1987). Navy personnel arrested as political or "thought" offenders were held, interrogated, and in some cases tortured at the site; navy headquarters figures put the number of naval victims of these purges at no fewer than 1,196. In 1962 it became a navy training center, and in 1976 was redesignated as the Navy Mingde Disciplinary Camp (海軍明德訓練班) for managing undisciplined military personnel, operating until its deactivation in 2001.

The site was registered as a historic building in 2004, made a county monument in 2007 and designated a National Monument of Taiwan on 30 August 2010 in recognition of its rare military architectural features and profound historical significance spanning the Japanese colonial era, WWII, and the White Terror period. The facility has been regularly open to the public since 2011 and lies near the Kaohsiung MRT Orange Line. Today it serves as both a memorial to the victims of political persecution and an educational site preserving Taiwan's complex military and colonial heritage.