Gushan Cave (Shoushan Air-Raid Shelter Tunnel)
鼓山洞（寿山防空トンネル）
A 200-meter air-raid shelter tunnel excavated by the Japanese colonial Railway Bureau during WWII in 1939, built into the limestone of Shoushan mountain to protect railway workers and passengers from the devastating US air raids on Kaohsiung. Now a designated military heritage site open to the public, featuring stalactite formations that have grown over the decades since the war.
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History
Gushan Cave (鼓山洞) is a WWII-era air-raid shelter tunnel located at the foot of Shoushan (Monkey Mountain) in Gushan District, Kaohsiung. Built in 1939 by the Japanese colonial Railway Bureau (鉄道部), it was designed as a large-scale underground refuge for railway staff and passengers during aerial bombardment.
The tunnel system consists of two main passages and two cross-tunnels, extending approximately 200 meters through the limestone bedrock of Shoushan. During the intense US bombing campaigns against Kaohsiung from October 1944 to August 1945, the tunnel provided critical shelter for civilians and railway workers as the nearby Takao Port Station and harbor facilities were repeatedly attacked.
Kaohsiung lay on the return flight path of US bombers heading back to bases in the Philippines, making it a frequent target even for aircraft that had aborted primary missions elsewhere. Pilots with remaining ordnance routinely dropped bombs on Kaohsiung as they passed over, creating an almost constant state of aerial danger for the city's residents.
After Japan's surrender in 1945, the tunnel was taken over by the Taiwan Garrison Command (警備總部). Following the end of martial law in 1987, management was transferred to the Kaohsiung City Police Bureau. In 2019, the Kaohsiung City Government designated it as the city's first military heritage tourist site and opened it to the public.
A remarkable feature of the cave is the stalactite formations that have grown on the limestone walls and the 64-step staircase over the past eight decades, creating an unusual intersection of military history and natural geology.